THE STATE WE RE IN
slill needed. Some residents of Hal¬
ifax and Graham counties have made
preliminary inquiries about partici¬
pation in program, too.
Volunteer coordinators are still
being sought in 11 other counties:
Beaufort, Caswell, Cherokee,
Chowan, Clay, Craven, Davidson.
Haywood, McDowell, Montgomery
and Pender.
In Search Of
Old Graveyards
The North Carolina Cemetery
Survey Project is marking its
10th anniversary this year,
but participants aren't really cele¬
brating. They’re too busy looking to
double their efforts, and they're seek¬
ing help from historical sleuths across
the state.
The project is designed to record all
cemeteries across the state contain¬
ing graves dated prior to 1913, the
year the state began keeping birth
and death certificates.
The survey is important because
the only records available for many of
North Carolina's earliest families rest
in these graveyards. Family research¬
ers, historians, genealogists, stu¬
dents and sociologists can all make
significant use of the information
these graveyards contain.
But Donna Flowers, the state coor¬
dinator of the project, says there’s a
sense of urgency in the effort to dis¬
cover and catalog these graveyards.
"We are losing these cemeteries,
and with them their statistics, at an
alarming rate," she says.
For decades, family cemeteries
have been abandoned as the descen¬
dants of the original settlers of iso¬
lated rural areas moved away to find
better opportunities and jobs. With
the increasing urbanization of the
late 20th century, this trend is accel¬
erating.
That’s why Mrs. Flowers is pushing
hard now to get volunteers from all
100 counties in the state actively in¬
volved in the project, which is oper¬
ated by the Division of Archives and
History within the Department of
Cultural Resources.
By mid-May, some 87 counties had
participated in the project to some
degree, though additional efforts are
For counties that already have coor¬
dinators, Mrs. Flowers can put new
volunteers in touch with them to see
what efforts are still needed. She can
also provide information and stan¬
dard survey forms for volunteers so
that cemeteries can be pinpointed on
U.S. Geological Survey maps.
And Mrs. Flowers is available to
speak to groups around the state that
are interested in learning more about
the project. "Our goal is to have 100
counties’ records in our survey," she
says. "And we need your help."
To find out more, those interested
can write to Mrs. Flowers at N.C.
State Archives, 109 E. Jones St.,
Raleigh, N.C. 27611, or call her at
(919)733-3952.
It’s an important effort in the quest
to preserve our past.
Old cemeteries such as this one at Hanging Dog, a few miles
northwest of Murphy, contain a great deal of information that is
being cataloged in the North Carolina Cemetery Survey Project.
Pbvlo by Caun Lindiay
The Stale June 89
3
