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No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use

No usage restrictions.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery Task Force Records and Related Materials #40345, University Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Cecelia Moore in February 2019 (RT 20190214.2).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: Tierra Thomas, March 2019

Encoded by: Laura Smith, April 2019

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Cemeteries--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
• Historic sites--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
• Old Chapel Hill Cemetery (Chapel Hill, N.C.)--History.
• Old Chapel Hill Cemetery Task Force (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Black Student Movement.

On April 22, 1985, Rebecca Clark petitioned the Mayor and Council to improve the condition of the west section of the old Chapel Hill Cemetery on Raleigh Road. A resolution was then passed establishing the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery Task Force which would present recommendations to the Chapel Hill town council. These recommendations would outline a master plan and workflow for maintenance, preservation and possible future development of the cemetery.

In September 1986, a task force was appointed by the Town Council to create a master plan and recommendations for improvements to the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery. The task force was made up of Chapel Hill Preservation Society members and folks from the Chapel Hill black community, some of whom had relatives in the historically black eastern sections of the cemetery.

In late 1987, the State of North Carolina transferred ownership of the cemetery from the university to the town and soon thereafter the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery Master Plan was completed and adopted by the Town Council. This master plan provided guidelines on how ongoing cemetery maintenance should be performed and included a list of recommended capital improvements that should be undertaken as funding became available.

The task force struggled to come to a consensus in creating the plan as some members wanted to focus on maintaining historic integrity while others wanted to create a plan for beautification. Despite these challenges the master plan was adopted, and the town has implemented most of the recommendations since.

Records consist of Task Force correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, research materials, proposals, master plan, and cemetery plot data. Also included are materials related to the Black Student Movement's 2001 call for restoration of gravestones in the African American section of the cemetery.