The relocation of African American tenant farmers’ remains from the former Oak Hill plantation in Danville, Virginia, has stirred a mix of emotions among descendants. The graves, previously part of one of the nation’s largest slaveholding estates, are being moved to accommodate an industrial park. Many see the move as an opportunity to honor those buried there, while others are uneasy about disturbing their final resting places.
Cedric Hairston expressed a powerful perspective on the transition, stating that those buried at Oak Hill were once denied their humanity but are now “patriots who are coming out of their graves with equal rights in 2025.” However, he also voiced concerns about the ongoing indignities the deceased have faced, saying, “It just seems that 100 or so odd years after their death, there’s still no rest.”
Archaeologists have begun exhuming approximately 275 plots, with some remains already moved to a funeral home. A new burial site, about a mile away, is being developed with input from descendants, who have been consulted on genetic testing and the cemetery’s design. Jeff Bennett, whose great-great-great-grandfather was buried at Oak Hill, acknowledged the emotional difficulty of the process but appreciates the effort to honor their ancestors. “For them to give us a lot of say so in the new cemetery, down to the design details and the plaques and memorials that we put up, I feel like (they’re) really doing it in a dignified way, in a respectful way,” he said.
Oak Hill was once part of an extensive plantation network owned by the Hairston family, known for its brutal legacy. After emancipation, many formerly enslaved people left, but some remained as tenant farmers, often enduring harsh conditions. Some took the Hairston surname, as Cedric Hairston explained: “We had no other name to identify with, as the government was collecting data for the census.”
Among those buried at Oak Hill is Fleming Adams Sr., a seven-foot-tall former enslaved man and tenant farmer. “My hope is that we can discover where Flem is,” Bennett said, hoping DNA testing could help identify his remains.
Artifacts like eyeglasses, a medicine bottle, and an 1836 coin have been recovered, and descendants are working to document the names of those buried. “I feel like we’re reemphasizing the significance of our ancestors,” Bennett said. “Hopefully, we can continue to tell those stories to the next generations.”
Link: NBCNews
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