The Fayette Area Historical Initiative (FAHI) has been awarded a $10,000 grant to document and preserve historic African-American cemeteries in the area.
According to a news release, the Helen S. and Charles G. Patterson Jr. Charitable Foundation Trust awarded the grant. The cemetery project, which is under way now, is a partnership between FAHI and the Dan River Basin Association to document and preserve the natural and cultural features of historic African-American cemeteries.
DRBA assisted FAHI in the grant application and helped design the project, according to the release. Other support will come from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, and support is being sought from the Virginia Environmental Endowment and The Harvest Foundation, said Perry Briggs Jr., interim director of FAHI.
The projected the total cost of completing the project in Henry County, Martinsville and surrounding areas will be at least $20,000. The project will begin with Henry County and Martinsville, with hopes to subsequently do Franklin and Pittsylvania counties and perhaps as far as Danville and Roanoke, he said.
The project includes cemetery cleanups; inventories of historic trees and other plantings; educational “community suppers” featuring experts in African-American history and cultural preservation; and recording oral histories of local seniors, the release stated. An online registry of the information collected will be created.
You can read more at http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=21976.
