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Project aims to add Atlanta’s oldest black cemetery to National Register of Historic Places – WSB-TV Channel 2

Theo

ATLANTA — Officials at South View Cemetery, Atlanta’s oldest black cemetery, are fighting to get the recognition and funding they deserve.

For Winnie Watts Hemphill, her family’s legacy lies among the headstones.

“My great-grandfather was one of the founders,” she said. Channel 2’s Michael Doudna.

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138 years later, she is president of the South View Cemetery Association, which oversees the graves of 80,000 people, including the namesakes of 22 Atlanta public schools and giants like Congressman John Lewis and baseball great Hank Aaron.

Many of the older plots date from a time when money was not set aside to maintain them.

If the cemetery could be placed on the National Register of Historic Places, its history could preserve it.

David Mitchell with the Atlanta Preservation Center says to get on the registry you have to prove ownership, so they turned to Councilor Jason Winston to help fund the project.

Winston got the Atlanta City Council to approve $50,000 to help with the bid, in hopes of preserving South View’s legacy.

The $50,000 will be used to hire historians to create a thesis to present nationally.

It’s a rigorous process that takes about two years, but if approved, they can apply for federal grants.

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