Race against time

Eugene Frazier and Thomas Johnson surveyed a forest of graves at a hidden cemetery on James Island where they said more than 200 people are laid to rest. Most of the deceased are in unmarked graves. Many of them were Africans brought here as slaves, they said.

Frazier and Johnson have known about the graveyard for years. They told stories of how the property has changed hands over time. They talked about how they want to clean, document and preserve the final resting place of ancestors brought here in chains.

“This is not just unique to James Island. It is throughout the state really that you have this problem with burial sites,” Johnson said.

Johnson, founder of the Committee to Preserve African-American Cemeteries on James Island, said plantation slave cemeteries are as important as a history lesson. “I want my folks’ story to be told,” he said. Read More

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