ENCLOSING THEIR IMMORTAL SOULS: A SURVEY OF TWO AFRICAN AMERICAN CEMETERIES IN GEORGETOWN,SOUTH CAROLINA

Abstract

A cemetery survey was completed in July of 2009 at two African American cemeteries in coastal South Carolina. The objective of this research was to study above-ground artifacts and features in the cemeteries in an effort to better understand life and death for enslaved African and African American communities as evidenced through their mortuary practices. This paper seeks to explore the relationship among African American ideologies about death, cemetery landscape, and the symbolic nature of grave goods.