UH volunteers working at Evergreen Cemetery | Ashton Clay Yeaman
The Evergreen Negro Cemetery, a long-neglected African American gravesite, is being given new life, thanks in part to efforts from UH anthropology students.
John Gorczyk, an affiliated researcher with the Comparative Cultural Studies department, and other volunteers are working to build a twelve-foot by twelve-foot plot to reinter the 38 bodies discovered underneath Lockwood Drive.
The bodies were paved over by the construction of Lockwood Drive in 1960, dividing Evergreen Cemetery into an eastern and western plot and causing 490 bodies to be relocated.
UH volunteers’ involvement in the site also includes Robert Stewart, a professor of geophysics in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and his students, who used ground-penetrating radar to help construct a much-needed wall around the graveyard.
The opportunity to not just help the community but also gain field experience is a big draw for some students.
“I was eager to participate in the hands-on archaeology experience,” said Jacob Cantú, a senior anthropology major and one of the students in Gorczyk’s class. “The project was valuable in tying the University of Houston to greater Houston communities. Efforts like these, spearheaded by UH professors and carried out by UH students, paint UH as a preserver of Houston culture and history.”
Historically, Black cemeteries have often restricted mourners’ access.
“Many of these cemeteries were owned by former slave owners,” said volunteer Juliana Deerman. “Because they were private property, on-foot access was difficult.”
Some of the notable people buried in Evergreen include A.K. Kelley, a prominent businessman in the early 20th century and the namesake of Kelley Street; George Lofton, a Buffalo Soldier who was stationed at Camp Logan and E.A. Durham, one of the first Black doctors to have a practice in Houston.
Community organizations feel the need to preserve sites like Evergreen is about more than just preserving history; it’s about heritage.
“My role is to preserve these sites in the Houston area. To make sure our ancestors are gone but not forgotten,” said Lisa Jedkins-Brown, a preservationist and project director for Why Not Legacy and Heritage, a charitable organization devoted to black heritage sites in Houston.
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