WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC-Group honors King holiday by cleaning up slave cemetery

Group honors King holiday by cleaning up slave cemetery

By Steve Crump - bio l email

WADESBORO, NC (WBTV) - Groups across the country and in Charlotte took part on Monday in a variety of service projects such as helping the homeless and delivering relief to blighted neighborhoods in honor of the Martin Luther King holiday.

One group of students and volunteers from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte helped to refurbish the old Westview Cemetery nears Wadesboro in Anson County.

In the last several decades, the cemetery has fallen into a state of disrepair.  The cemetery was once final resting place for many former slaves who lived in this region.

Wadesboro City Councilman Lawrence Gatewood said he was grateful for the help from total strangers.

"Many of the movers and shakers of this community are buried right here in this cemetery," Gatewood said.

Neglected and overgrown best describe the appearances over the summer when WBTV brought you a series of stories about this cemetery, but some changes have come during the months of winter.

Brush and debris were cleared by more than a dozen volunteers from UNC Charlotte on Monday.

Students like India Solomon used the King holiday as a day "off" from classes, but as a day "on" for service.

"I come away with a sense of legacy," Solomon said.  "All of the legacy that's here, not only are we celebrating this legacy, we're kind of inventing our own legacy."

Stephen Gibson of Denver, NC, was deeply touched by the students' act of kindness.

This is the first time he has ever touched the headstone of his great-grandmother, Jane Robinson Phillips.  She was born as a slave in 1846.

"It's amazing how much has been done to take care of this site," Gibson said.  "A lot of work has gone into this already."

Councilman Gatewood is hoping the road to restoration doesn't end here.

"Hopefully, this time next year, we will see a totally different cemetery," Gatewood said.

It is a promise rooted in a new found sense of purpose.