Hundreds of Black graves are relocating in VA; but why?

The graves of African American tenant farmers are being moved to make room for a new industrial complex. Descendants and Virginia’s African American community recently shared mixed feelings about the disruption of the burial sites.

The Oak Hill Plantation was just a small piece of the larger Hairston empire in the United States. 

At their height, the Hairstons owned 45 plantations across the country. Samuel Hairston, born in 1755, gained the reputation as the largest enslaver in the South—and the owner of Oak Hill.

From the 1820s until the emancipation of African Americans in 1863, hundreds of people were enslaved at the Pittsylvania County plantation site (across all Hairston plantations, there were upwards of 1,700 people ensnared within the peculiar institution).

After emancipation, many who were enslaved left the plantation, but many were forced to stay due to poverty and other factors. 

The freed African Americans who stayed became tenant farmers, but this didn’t mean their former enslavers treated them as equals. When these farmers died at Oak Hill, their bodies were treated much like they were during slavery. No funeral rites were performed, very few grave markers were placed, and no respect was given to those who passed. 

Whispers of the past

Destroyed by fire in the 1980s, the manor house remains in ruins on the property—but the “final” resting places of the tenant farmers who worked there, as well as their family members, will soon not be among them. 

The process to exhume approximately 275 plots is already underway, as a new industrial site seeks to build on the land. Eventually, the remains will be reintered about a mile away.

Pros and cons

The decision to move hundreds of Black tenant farmers’ remains was met with many emotions.

From one perspective, some descendants of the farmers noted that their family members will finally receive proper burials. The organization leading these excavations provided $1.8 million for descendants to use for headstones and other burial materials. The family members will now be able to visit their ancestors at a dedicated location. 

When these bodies are unearthed, they are also tested for their genealogy, both in hopes of identifying unmarked people and reuniting them with their families.

However, not everyone showed support for the tenant farmers’ exhumation. Other descendants noted that they didn’t want to disturb the graves of people who were already buried. Further, they expressed worry that an already disparaged and exploited people would face that same treatment after death—let them rest, while also not building over the graves.

Despite the potential backlash of the project, hundreds of graves will be relocated; plans for the new industrial park are moving forward.

Across the commonwealth, many historically Black cemeteries face fates of disrepair, misuse, and exhumation. If you want to donate to a local historically Black cemetery or learn more about these historic resting sites, please visit Virginia’s Department of Historic Resources website for more information.