“No pauper burial ground”: Uncovering Historically Black Cemeteries in Louisville and New Albany
November 2, 2019
10:00-11:00 AM Panel presentation at Carnegie Center for Art and History
11:30 AM George Washington Carter headstone unveiling at Fairview Cemetery
The Carnegie Center for Art and History and the Frazier History Museum partner to offer a panel presentation about historically black cemeteries in Louisville and New Albany. The panel will be followed by the unveiling of a headstone dedicated to prominent nineteenth-century businessman George Washington Carter at Fairview Cemetery in New Albany. The panel will take place at the Carnegie Center for Art and History on November 2 at 10:00 AM, and attendees are invited to the headstone unveiling at Fairview Cemetery immediately following at 11:30 AM. Registration to attend the panel presentation is required at: https://fraziermuseum.org/no-pauper-burial-rsvp
Gravestones and cemeteries provide the living with sacred spaces to remember the people of the past. However, the memories of African Americans buried in historically “colored” or “pauper” cemeteries are often lost due to poor record-keeping, neglect, and marginalization. The panelists will discuss the history of the featured cemeteries and highlight some of the figures buried in each. Panelists include Tim Allen, volunteer caretaker of Freedomland; Stefanie Buzan and Savannah Darr, Friends of Eastern Cemetery; Dr. Eileen Yanoviak, Director of the Carnegie Center, on Westhaven Cemetery; Jim Munford, Friends of Fairview Cemetery; Al Gorman, Carnegie Program Coordinator; freelance journalist and author Michael Jones; and Dr. Deonte Hollowell, Spalding University on the importance of remembering African American history. Idris Goodwin, poet, performer, and Producing Artistic Director of Stage One Family Theatre, will perform elegies in honor of the deceased.
This event is co-hosted by the Carnegie Center for Art and History and the Frazier History Museum, in partnership with the Friends of Fairview Cemetery and Friends of Eastern Cemetery. The panel presentation is generously supported by the Horseshoe Foundation of Floyd County.
Immediately following the panel at 11:30 AM, everyone is invited to attend the unveiling of the headstone of prominent nineteenth-century businessman George Washington Carter, who is buried in an unmarked grave at Fairview Cemetery. Carter was born in 1801 in Virginia as a free black man. A wealthy man, Carter sold land to the City of New Albany for the expansion of Fairview Cemetery. The Friends of Fairview will present a gravestone to the Carter family to honor this prosperous citizen.
