Doubts are being cast on whether a slave cemetery exists on the site of H6, the new high school planned in northeast Wake County.
Neighbors say graves found on the site are from a slave cemetery so building the school would desecrate those who lie there. But a new report done for the school system says "we believe that the cemetery reflects the burial of Euro-American individuals."
The report from the South Carolina-based Chicora Foundation says the cemetery doesn't exhibit characteristics of an African American cemetery.
School officials plan to post the report online by the end of business today.
The report comes after Darin Waters, a historian and board member of the Raleigh-based Institute for Historical Research and Education, said the site "is clearly a slave cemetery" that may have been part of the nearby plantation owned by Peterson Dunn at the time of the Civil War.
Neighbors have urged building a memorial and park on the site instead of a high school.
School officials plan to fence in the graves and preserve the site. They'll build the school around the cemetery, which is located on the southwest corner of the student parking lot.
H6 is scheduled to open in 2010 on Heritage High's campus before its own campus is ready in 2011.
Ultimately, it's the economy that could have more of an impact on the school's construction.
UPDATE
Click here to view the report.
Comments
Great first person
Thu, 01/15/2009 - 05:40 — vsheehanGreat first person narratives from former slaves of the Dunn's family can be found here
http://books.google.com/books?id=WVC-AN_slx0C&pg=PA101&lpg=PA101&dq=peterson+dunn+slaves&source=web&ots=_exeFGAI-g&sig=Nxy3syKvmfdtjHDSWCnE8hQgOLM&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result
What annoys me is that the
Thu, 01/15/2009 - 05:37 — vsheehanWhat annoys me is that the neighborhood only started caring about this plot of graves when it suited them. Will the neighborhood be holding a fundraiser to put a plaque or memorial at the site to teach the history of the site?
If the families want to fight the building of the school all they have to do is point out that the BOE still has not done the necessary work on the road Panther Creek is on to handle the traffic. That is more in line with the neighbors’ true complaint. The neighbors just have to point out the fact that the BOE as a builder has shown it is unwilling to build responsibly as the BOE’s weedling with Cary to lift the widening of the road next to Panther Creek shows.
All over the place
Wed, 01/14/2009 - 23:37 — supportwcpssThere are dozens of these cemeteries in Wake County with a number being respected with fences and so on. This is non-issue.
North Hilss Park
Wed, 01/14/2009 - 22:52 — duvalNorth Hills Park is a great example of respectfully fencing off an existing cemetery and building the necessary facilities to accommodate the needs of the community. If the county needs to look for an example of how to accomplish this task, they need only to take a trip over to this public park and take a walk around.
OMG
Wed, 01/14/2009 - 22:31 — Voice_of_Reason_What are we going to do now? Protest? How dare they desecrate a Euro-American grave ! I'm insulted,
):~]