TOPOGRAPHIC, PEDESTRIAN, AND GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS OF A FREED AFRICAN-AMERICAN CEMETERY IN RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA

Oberlin Cemetery was established as a freed African-American cemetery following the American Civil War (1861-1865) to serve Oberlin Village, now part of Raleigh, North Carolina. Sometime in the later 20th century and into the 21st century, the three acre (12,140.6 m²) cemetery fell into disrepair resulting in sunken graves and became heavily overgrown. Written records suggest there are 600 individuals buried within the cemetery although only 145 grave markers have been identified by the local preservation group, Friends of Oberlin Village. Three surveys were carried out during summer 2016 to establish the number of graves within the cemetery and to determine which method would be most beneficial for future unmarked grave research. A topographic survey covering the entirety of the cemetery employed a terrestrial lidar scanner recording data points at 1 cm² point spacing. For the pedestrian survey, surface features (e.g., tombstones, flower holders, glass bottles, etc.) were identified, cataloged, and recorded in a Trimble TerraFlex database. The geophysical survey consisted of scanning 1,473.5 m² (12%) of the cemetery using ground penetrating radar 250 and 500 MHz antennae. We conclude that a significant number (> 400) of graves can be identified within the results of our surveys. While each survey increases the initially observed 145 graves at the cemetery, the combination of methods increases inventory completeness and aid in validation of observations