How They Did It: Identifying and Documenting African American Cemeteries in Cayce, SC
By: Pamela Sulton (Commissioner on the Cayce Museum and Historical Commission) and Andy Thomas (Curator, Cayce Historical Museum)
June 14, 2024
The Featured Projects series showcases historic preservation projects focused on preserving Black history throughout SC. Each project is asked to respond to four prompts. We hope this series helps bring awareness to the stunning number and variety of preservation projects being undertaken across the state, highlights the dedication of our community leaders, and inspires future generations of projects.
| Provide a summary of your project, making sure to include why it’s important for African American historic preservation. |
|---|
| In 2022 the City of Cayce applied for a Federal Historic Preservation grant from the National Park Service. The purpose of the grant was to identify and record historic African American cemeteries in the city and for recommendations on how to raise public awareness of the cemeteries and promote their preservation. In late 2022 the city was awarded a $15,000 grant that was matched by city funds and administered by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History (SCDAH). In a competitive process, Stantec, a cultural history and preservation company was hired to elicit public input, conduct survey field work and research, and write a report on what they found and their recommendations on future preservation efforts by the City. They finished the survey and reported back to the city in October 2023. A digital version of this report can be found at https://caycesc.gov/african-american-cemeteries.php. The City of Cayce is committed to the preservation of historic resources. African American cemeteries in Cayce had been neglected and needed attention because they face pressures from new development, lack of awareness, and other threats. |
| What motivated you/your community/your team to begin this project? |
|---|
| Finding and documenting African American cemeteries is an extremely important part of preserving the history and culture of the Cayce community and honoring those who built it. It is inclusive and illuminates the neglected African American side of the story. This enriches the entire history of the Cayce community and provides a more truthful and balanced representation of its history and supports the city’s reconciliation and unity. Two of the Cayce Museum and Historical Commission members who have helped to advance this project are Pamela Sulton and Charlita Earle. Both have ties to some of the cemeteries mentioned in the final report and helped to spread the word on this project and its benefit to the community. |
| What challenges have you faced in this project? |
|---|
| One of the biggest challenges was getting the word out about the project and having people participate in identifying cemeteries in the city and providing additional information to the company chosen to conduct the survey. Another challenge was having people understand the scope of the grant. Some in the public assumed the grant was for immediate preservation efforts rather than just a survey of existing graves. In addition, since the grant was specifically for the Cayce area, there was confusion by some on cemeteries that were close by but were not in the city limits of Cayce. |
| How have you solved problems and found solutions? What advice would you give to others doing this kind of work? |
|---|
| Involving the public is one of the most important aspects of a project like this. You want them to buy in and understand what the project is all about and what the project can then lead to in the future. Having public meetings is always a good idea to get input from a variety of voices on various aspects of the project. Transparency is a must. We were able to hold public meetings to disseminate information and collect information. We asked folks to please share any information they came upon during the discovery phase of the projects. We also had a public meeting to close out the project and made the report available to the public on the City of Cayce website. Our next step will be a follow up grant to create a management plan for the cemeteries regarding preservation. It will include information on ownership of lands, goals that stakeholders would like to see accomplished, a maintenance plan and information on who would carry out such work, and information on the estimated costs of such activities. |