A group of North Carolina A&T State University students has created interpretive benches to commemorate those buried in unmarked graves in Greensboro’s Maplewood Cemetery.
One bench is graced with 311 X’s, corresponding to the number of graves where African Americans are known to be buried, but no record exists of their names.
Another is a two-sided seat. One side faces pristine graves, many adorned with flowers. The other seat appears aged and burned. It faces unmarked graves.
These are two of the eight benches created by North Carolina A&T students studying under landscape architect Steve Rasmussen Cancian.
Cancian says Maplewood Cemetery connects to many parts of the city’s history, from its most discriminatory times to an era where people born into slavery became community leaders.
“There are at least five generations of Aggies buried there," he says. "But, you know, I wasn't even aware of it, nor were my colleagues. So there's a lot of connections to be built.”
Maplewood was established in 1918 to provide burial space for African-American families.
The benches will be unveiled during a ceremony next week.