Discovering Geer Cemetery

(continued from Part 1)

One of the first Duke Park Neighbors I met when we moved in was an African American lady named Clairine. Clarine introduced herself to me, letting me know that her family had lived here for thirty years. She said that before she moved here, there were no people with African American heritage living on this side of the tracks (which are about two blocks south of our houses). By 1998 this was a peaceful mixed neighborhood. I asked Clarine about the cemetery, and it turned out that a great relative on her father ’s side was buried there.


When I was ready to find out more about the cemetery in 2002, I needed some guidance. I took an 8 week course with Barbara Lau at the Center for Documentary Studies. Dr. Bird Stasz was in the class, and agreed to work with me on the project. Basing my ideas on the House Island Project in Maine, I thought a focus on the cemetery might help to unify the east and west sides of the neighborhood to combat problems like litter and high speed traffic. I also dreamed of creating a DVD for school children which would make local history come alive for them. Bird pointed out this might be a bit much for an 8 week project.

(Story continues below photo)

One day when the wisteria was about to bloom and the poison ivy was still indistinguishable, Bird, Clairine, Clairine’s sister Ann, and I, braved the underbrush to look at headstones. Some headstones are inexpensive cement markers, and some are cut marble. Many are obscured by vines. There are also a number of children buried here, suggesting epidemics. We observed grave-sized holes in the ground in many places. We discovered some grave markers flush with the ground. We realized that without clearing the ivy on the ground, it is impossible to know how many of these flat markers there are. Clarine and Ann searched for and discussed their relatives’s grave, which is said to be marked only by two stones.


I soon found that there is a legend about the origin of this cemetery. An 11 year old boy working on Jesse Geer’s farm, is said to have been dragged by a mule and killed. Jesse Geer gave permission for the boy to be buried under a tree here. Many African Americans, under the strict segregation enforced at the time, needed a place to bury their deceased. Apparently Jesse Geer designated this section of his farm for the purpose, and later sold the 2 acres to the African American Community in 1877. By the early part of the twentieth century, prominent African American Citizens of Durham were being buried here.


After the eight-week course, while writing my paper, I wondered what this community of pre-civil-rights-era African Americans would say to us if they had the opportunity. Would they tell us about their good times and their bad? Would they tell us what they went through in hopes that their children would have better lives? Would they tell us what it takes to survive hard times, and how to see change through the lens of generations instead of years?


I am beyond joyful, now, to announce that R. Kelly Bryant, Jr. has again convened an enthusiastic group to organize a clean up project in the cemetery, and to arrange for its perpetual maintenance thereafter. Perhaps we will get an opportunity to hear what the community of the Geer cemetery has to say to us. The Duke Park Neighborhood, along with Old North Durham, the City Government, and our neighbors across the “river” known as The Freeway seem poised to unite in the accomplishment of this project. –Jesse Eustice