Drones, Radar Help Discover the Dead, Provide Dignity in Washtenaw County’s Only Black Cemetery

Beneath the grass and forest of the Woodlawn Cemetery, Washtenaw County’s only documented black cemetery, are the remains of the families of surrounding residents, including former WWI, WWII, and Korean War Veterans. 

From a distance the cemetery looks more like a field, a wetland and a forest, but a few graves dot the grass, revealed after hours of work from volunteers. They represent but a small number of the more than 250 and counting black Washtenaw County residents who rest there. 

Throwing Flowers Over the Fence

Ypsilanti Township resident Mattie Odessa Smith, who is 86-years-old, has several uncles, numerous cousins, and her grandmother buried at Woodlawn. 

“We went out there on Memorial Day and put flowers on the graves,” Smith recalls. “We always did that until it became too overgrown—and we would still go out there—and my mother said we would throw flowers over the fence.”

Today, Smith has joined more than 300 volunteers who have worked to restore the 1946 cemetery. She’s manned tables, helped people fill out forms, walked through the cemetery to look for graves, and attended meetings to get the word out, especially to the younger generation.

Technological solutions

On Friday March 20, Smith watched as engineers, who have been using drones and ground-penetrating radar, identified where the dead lay beneath the earth. The effort is what Lead Archeologist Kat Slocum, calls “the most comprehensive geophysical survey in the U.S.” A group of historians are also working on unearthing the names and stories of the people from archives, old newspapers and regional memories.

“We don’t want to lose a single person. We’re making the invisible visible and they’re doing this with their technology,” Slocum said.

On Wednesday March 18, 17 engineers and scientists gathered. One worker drove an ATV pulling a trailer with a multi-channel system to take complex images of what’s hidden beneath the ground. In the forest, others pushed carts with single channel ground penetrating radar systems.

“This is our geophysical team. We have folks from nine different states for this work,” explained Joe Snider, a senior geophysicist with Terracon, the engineering company that donated two weeks of labor and equipment in March and another week last November to support the ongoing project. 

Disparities in Death

The cemetery was founded 80 years ago to provide black dignity, said one of the initiators of the restoration project, Dr. Debby Covington, who is president and chair of the board of directors for the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County.

“There was a disparity in how black people were treated in death. There was no honor,” said Covington.

While Michigan was desegregated, the black residents were often buried in the worst parts of the cemeteries and visitation was restricted for black families of the deceased, said Covington. 

Woodlawn Cemetery was part of the solution. Rev. Garther Roberson, Sr., head of the Second Baptist Church in Ypsilanti purchased the land and oversaw the cemetery until his own death and burial in Woodlawn Cemetery in 1955. The women who inherited it went bankrupt and without an owner, it fell into neglect, though pastors from the local churches would send people over to mow it when they could. Smith, Roberson’s niece, said at one point there were headstones and markers on her uncles’ and grandmother’s graves, but they have disappeared.

Favorite Grave

Snider, an archeological geophysicist with Terracon, has worked at cemeteries from South Dakota to South Carolina and New York to Louisiana. He and his co-worker Alex Corkum, also an archeological geophysicist, have developed techniques for discovering the dead. 

Generally, he said, in black cemeteries only six to 15 percent of graves have markers, while in predominantly white cemeteries the number is closer to 60 percent. He also sees more cement gravestones in black cemeteries. There are several of those at Woodlawn Cemetery. A favorite grave of Snider’s is marked Joseph P Mskivens. It’s made of cement and pieces of a wire hanger are cut and twisted to form letters and designs along the sides. 

“It’s just unique,” said Snider, who said homemade graves have a humanity about them lacking in modern laser cut headstones cut to a pre-made pattern.

Beginnings

Covington and Slocum started heading the project while serving as Washtenaw County historic district commissioner and historic preservationist. While Slocum no longer serves in that position, both have continued to volunteer their time to lead the effort. Project leaders have raised $22,000 so far and even more money will be needed.

Honoring the descendants

At the beginning of the project, organizers invited the descendants of those buried there to come to the site together.

Covington said she wanted them to “come in and hold the place sacred and bless the work.” Descendants from across the U.S., including Hawaii, have helped. One even traveled from the Philippines.

“We want to make sure everything we are doing is in honoring the descendants and honoring the cemetery,” Covington said.

Volunteer effort

Ypsilanti Township has chipped the vegetation removed, so far filling up 12 trucks of chips. Lauri Lutomski, Community Resource Coordinator for Ypsilanti township, said the township has also been blasting the information out on social media and at community listening sessions, to raise awareness. The township will mow the cemetery, aiming to maintain a prairie feel to the place, once the brush and dense trees have been removed and the restoration is complete.

“We’re so excited about this project,” Lutomski said. “These are our residents and their descendants. Most of the folks who are buried there are either from the city or the township. There are a number of our residents in their 80s and 90s whose children are buried there.”

The cemetery is located at 7800 South Huron River Drive in Ypsilanti Township. The project continues and more volunteers or other assistance is appreciated, Slocum said. 

Those interested in learning more or supporting the project can visit the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County’s website. The museum currently has an exhibit on the project.