On Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at 10:00am, the City of Douglas will hold a Closing Dedication Ceremony of sections M, N, and O, which have served as burial sites for the African American community. This decision came following a discovery by the Chicora Foundation that the African-American sections, located in the north-eastern portion of the cemetery contained a large amount of unmarked graves.
The historic African American section is located in the north-eastern (back) portion of the cemetery. Originally, the land was part of a farm owned by the Gaskin family. While there is no written documentation, evidence indicates that it began as a family cemetery then grew with donations of land from different generations of the Henry Peterson family. The earliest interments occurred in the 1840s, about 50 years before Douglas was established as a town. The cemetery was officially adopted as the City of Douglas Cemetery with the interment of David Kirkland in 1865. In 1934, Vicey Kirkland Peterson deeded more land for cemetery use, part to the City for the interment of whites and part to the Mclean family for the interment of African-Americans. The land, Vicey Peterson deeded to the Mclean family, expanded the existing African-American section to 2 and ½ acres. The land was managed by the McLean family up until the time they deeded the land over to the City of Douglas in 1968. It was then that the City labeled the sections as M, N, and O in the Douglas Cemetery. Unrecorded graves were discovered in July 2005, which led to years of discussion by the City of Douglas Cemetery Committee and Mayor and Commission.
Community members wishing to attend this dedication should drive straight into the Cemetery until you reach the gazebo. Turn right at the gazebo, take the first left roadway to reach the section in the back of the cemetery. For more information on the Cemetery Dedication of the African American Section, please call (912)389-3405 or email wbolder@cityofdouglas.com.
