(TheConservativeTimes.org) – The remains of approximately 275 Black people’s graves are being exhumed from a Virginia tobacco plantation cemetery to clear land for a new development.
The graves from one of America’s largest slave-owning operations are making way for a billion-dollar battery production facility that government officials say will create 2,000 jobs.
Archaeologists have already begun the delicate work of removing the remains from Oak Hill plantation, part of a massive family empire that once enslaved thousands under Samuel Hairston, one of the South’s largest enslavers.
While some descendants have expressed concern about disturbing their ancestors’ final resting places, many are working with officials to ensure the new burial site provides proper recognition that was denied in life.
The $1.3 million relocation project, funded by logging the land, includes plans for a memorial archway and consultation with families on the cemetery’s design.
The graves of hundreds of African American tenant farmers and their families are being moved in Virginia to make way for an industrial park. https://t.co/F6yB4hnQyv
— WTVR CBS 6 Richmond (@CBS6) March 2, 2025
The Pittsylvania-Danville Regional Industrial Facility Authority acquired the plantation land for economic development, securing a $1.3 billion battery production facility expected to revitalize the area’s economy.
Virginia’s Department of Historical Resources granted the necessary permit to relocate the graves after confirming the desires of descendant families, balancing economic progress with historic preservation.
The Oak Hill plantation has been mostly unused since the end of sharecropping, with the plantation house destroyed by fire in 1988.
Many of those buried there were tenant farmers who stayed on the land after emancipation but faced exploitation and poverty.
Some even adopted the Hairston surname due to a lack of other identifiers during census data collection, revealing the complicated legacy of post-Civil War life for former slaves.
Personal artifacts discovered during the exhumation, including eyeglasses, a medicine bottle, a coin from 1836, and a light bulb, provide glimpses into the lives of these Americans.
These simple items tell the story of hardworking people who contributed to building America despite facing discrimination and difficult circumstances.
Moreover, descendants are reviewing historical records to identify those buried in unmarked graves, hoping to inscribe the names of all who lived in the area.
The project aims to honor ancestors by giving them the dignity in death they were often denied in life.
Though Black cemeteries have historically faced neglect across the country, efforts to preserve them are increasing as Americans reckon with historical injustices.
In this case, economic development is balanced with proper respect for the deceased, allowing job creation and historical recognition to proceed.
The new cemetery will include opportunities for genetic testing and proper headstones, ensuring these Americans’ contributions will not be forgotten.
Even though the relocation represents the complex relationship between progress and preservation, it also provides a chance to right historical wrongs by properly recognizing those who labored to build America but were marginalized in their own time.
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