Project Respect, Inc.

Wyatt Chapel Cemetery - Project Update

On Saturday, February 10, 2007, Dr. James D. Foradas, Ms. Sandra Meserve, and W. W. Jones, II walked over the grounds of Wyatt Chapel Cemetery searching for and attempting to document the remnants of any fragment or visible signs of marker materials and physical evidence from the graves of yesterday’s burials. Due to the overgrowth, mounds of debris from suspected dumping at the cemetery site by Prairie View A & M University some years ago, much of the above-ground physical evidence was perceived as non-existent, destroyed or lost.

Along the small road that allows access to the property there are piles of debris. Trees had been moved and cleared to the side of the road by the blade of a tractor or other large machinery. Whatever physical remains of surface markers that had existed in this area of the cemetery were certainly lost and only excavation or possibly the use of ground penetrating radar or magnetic sensing equipment would be able to reveal traces of the old slave cemetery.

This conclusion by the team of Meserve, Foradas and Jones after their day of searching the woods and creek-bed is now in doubt. On Saturday, February 17, 2007, the next scheduled cleanup day, while removing the overgrowth of many years, protected by prevailing large oak trees from the blade of the tractors and large equipment, students from Prairie View A & M University, Project RESPECT workers, and volunteers from Omega Psi Phi Fraternity discovered the apparent markings for two very old graves that may predate any previous findings. Dr. James D. Foradas and other archaeologists from HRA Gray and Pape Consulting Archaeologists were informed. HRA Gray Archaeologists will perform further studies of these finds. All the other remaining 10 to12 visible markers documented at the site had been from recent burials from the 1920s to the mid 1960s.

Slave workers were often given land for cemeteries by plantation owners near creeks and streams. The natural runoff of surface water to the creek, and other forces of nature such as soil erosion, forces the shallow buried remains to the surface of typical cemeteries in the South where loose soil and no rock exist to hold the soil in place. Unfamiliar visitors, vandals, and curiosity seekers can easily disturb and further damage the valuable traces of history left among the mulch, debris, trees, and fallen branches. A day will come soon when the findings of old graves at Wyatt Chapel will be digitally mapped, photographed, restored, and made available for visitation by the general public in a manner that will enhance public awareness, protect the memories of descendants, and create lasting cultural values.

As requested in previous news articles and solicitations for volunteers, the community is invited to come join these efforts during scheduled work days. Oral History Projects, collection and documenting of artifacts, and other aspects of the project are underway. To contribute your efforts to the project and become a part of the historic work, please contact Project RESPECT.