Project Contributors

While this project began as part of Dr. Rainville's research into historic cemeteries, it has only been successful because of the enthusiastic and significant contributions of dozens of members of the community. I apologize if I have overlooked anyone in creating the following list (updated July 2008). The community owes a debt of gratitude to the private land owners listed here who allowed researchers access to their land so that we could record gravestone inscriptions and create maps of "lost cemeteries" in Albemarle and Amherst Counties.

Many thanks (in alphabetical order) to.....

  • Dr. Rebecca Ambers, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, Sweet Briar College. For her help in identifying stone types and for sharing her data on Amherst County land ownership.
  • Ms. Sara Lee Barnes, Library Administrator, University of Virginia. For providing leads on historic cemeteries in Albemarle.
  • Mr. David Bearinger, Director, Grants and Public Programs at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. For providing economic support for the earliest incarnation of this project.
  • Ms. Celine Beauchamp, Archaeologist. For her assistance mapping and photographing cemeteries.
  • Dr. Sara Bon-Harper, Director of Archaeology at Monticello. For professional advice and her own work on the slave cemetery at Monticello.
  • Jeanne Brown, descendant. For sharing her family history with me and providing resources associated with the history of Brown's Cove.
  • Mr. Julian Burke, co-founder of the African American Genealogy Group in Charlottesville. For the thousands of hours he and other volunteers spent in creating the J.F. Bell Funeral Database. With over 8,000 names, this database provides the foundation for locating histoic African-American cemeteries in Albemarle County.
  • Mr. Martin Burks III, owner of the J.F. Bell Funeral home. For sharing information about area cemeteries and burial practices.
  • Dr. Reginald Butler, Associate Professor of History, UVA . For his professional support and input into framing questions about historic African-American burial practices.
  • Mr. Ted Delaney, Curator, Old City Cemetery in Lynchburg. For sharing his research into the Daughters of Zion Cemetery and for working to compile burial records and biographies for African-American residents in Lynchburg.
  • Dr. Linda Fink, Professor of Biology, Sweet Briar College. For working with me on an interdisciplinary study of historic/invasive plants in past landscsapes.
  • Mrs Linda Johnson and Ms. Jackie Johnson, descendants of the Flannagan Family who kindly allowed me to map their family cemetery and shared stories of their relatives.
  • Dr. Scot French, Associate Professor of History, UVA . For his research into the African American burials in the Oakwood and Maplewood Cemeteries and his technological and archival support for this project.
  • Mr. Jasper Fletcher, descendant. For his amazing memory and contribution of his family history.
  • Dr. Ben Ford, Director of Rivanna Archaeology. For his numerous leads on local cemeteries and all of his insightful research into area cemeteries.
  • Dr. Jillian Galle, Project Manager, DAACS. For her research into historic African-American sites in Albemarle County.
  • Dr. Jerome Handler, Senior Fellow, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. For his assistance in researching the slave cemetery at Mt. Fair and Pasture Fence Mountain and for posing challenging questions during the early stages of this project.
  • Mr. William Hearns and his wife, descendent. For sharing his family history with us and helping us locate his family cemetery.
  • Ms. Debi Hornberger, Real Estate Agent. For taking me on a tour of historic black cemeteries at the beginning of this project in spite of the snakes.
  • Ms. Liz Cherry Jones, descendant. For working to preserve historic cemeteries and oral traditions in the Blenheim neighborhood.
  • Mrs. Margaret O'Bryant, Archivist at the Albemarle/Charlottesville Historical Society. For being an expert on Albemarle County expert and pointing countless researchers in the right direction for information on their families and historic cemeteries.
  • Dr. Edward Lay, Architectural Historian. For documenting Albemarle County's disappearing architectural history, especially the residences of African-Americans located on plantations.
  • Mr. Wiley Martin , Land Owner and researcher . For his archival research into the communities in and around Pasture Fence Mountain.
  • Dr. Fraser Neiman, Director of Archaeology at Monticello. For providing leads on local cemeteries.
  • Mrs. Shirley Parrish, descendant. For sharing information about historic African American burials in Albemarle County.
  • Ms. Octavia Phillips, Program Administrator, Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies. For her administrative support for the project.
  • Mrs. Mary Reaves, descendant. For sharing her recollections of the Rose Hill Community and bringing the Rose Hill Cemetery to my attention.
  • Mr. and Mrs. Sheridan, Land Owners. For sharing the history of Mt. Fair with the community.
  • Dr. Leni Sorenson, Research Historian, Monticello. For sharing her historical and oral historical expertise on historic African-American populations in Albemarle County.
  • Cinder Stanton, Shannon Research Historian, Monticello . For sharing her historical and oral historical expertise on the enslaved community at Monticello.
  • Sweet Briar Students. For assisting with archival research, cemetery mapping, photographing, and transcribing oral histories: Karli Sakas '06, Anne Mathias '05, Dana Ripperton '05, Jodie Weber '06, Tiffany Meadows '08, Katie Miller '09, Sasha Levine '05.
  • Alison and Mark Trimpe, land owners. For their sense of historical stewardship in researching and preserving an historic cemetery on their property.
  • Mr. diValmarana, Land Owner. For bringing the presence of an historic African-American cemetery to my attention back in 2001 (via Dr. Bon-Harper).
  • Mr. Bob Vernon, Historian. For his prodigous research into local African-American communities and his computer expertise that brings all of the data together into unique on-line formats.
  • Derek Wheeler, Archaeologist. For countless hours running the total station and mapping cemeteries.