Historic Black cemetery in Beckley to be considered for national historic registry

Feb. 12—A cemetery in East Beckley, established in the midst of segregation to serve as the final resting place for Black residents, could soon be placed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

The Wright-Hunter Cemetery in Beckley is just one of several nominations to the national historic registry that the West Virginia Archives and History Commission will consider during a meeting Feb. 21 at the Culture Center in Charleston.

Should the commission approve the nomination for the Wright-Hunter Cemetery, it will be forwarded to the National Park Service, which will have the final say.

Beckley Councilwoman Janine Bullock, who represents the ward where the cemetery is located, said she has been working since she was first elected in 2016 to get the cemetery what she feels is its due recognition.

Located at the intersection of Antonio Avenue and Lemp Lane in East Beckley, the Wright-Hunter Cemetery was established in 1906 when Reverend David C. Hunter purchased the land.

For the next five decades, the cemetery would serve as the final resting place for Black residents.

When Bullock initially started researching the cemetery and its founder, she said she was enthralled by everything she learned and surprised that the cemetery's history was not more widely known.

"I was thinking, man, during segregation, this gentleman was able to purchase this land for a proper burial for African Americans," she said. "And once I started researching about him and his family ... I said, this is something that the community needs to know about, and they need to be very appreciative of what is in our community and to learn their history."

Bullock said everything came together for the nomination a few years ago when the city received a grant from the state's historic preservation office to pay for someone to complete the application to nominate the cemetery.

This is how Bullock connected with Sandra Scaffidi and John Pitman, with Practical Preservations, who completed the nomination for Wright-Hunter Cemetery and will present it to the West Virginia Archives and History Commission.

The 52-page document that Scaffidi and Pitman submitted to the state details everything about the Wright-Hunter Cemetery, including significant people buried there, its impact on the community, the many community members involved in the cemetery and more.

According to those documents, Hunter was born a slave in 1864 in Forest Depot, Bedford County, Virginia. In his 20s, after attending Richmond Theological Seminary, Hunter moved to West Virginia, where he ministered while working in the coal mines.

He established eight new Baptist churches throughout the New River region, including, in 1908, the Ebenezer Baptist Church, which was Beckley's first established church for Black residents.

The Wright-Hunter Cemetery was established as a burial ground for Black Raleigh County residents in 1906 when Hunter bought the property from Thomas Wickham.

The first to be buried at the cemetery was Rose Braxton, who died Dec. 1, 1906.

Hunter, his wife and two sons are also buried in the cemetery. Hunter's gravestone reads, "he fought a good fight and kept the faith."

The last burial recorded in the Wright-Hunter Cemetery was William Dangerfield, who was buried in 1960.

A portion of the nomination reads: "The Wright-Hunter Cemetery is reflective of the cultural norms and beliefs of the early 20th century in southern West Virginia. The cemetery itself was the byproduct of systematic racism and Jim Crow laws which encouraged a segregated society while also demonstrating the self reliance and funerary culture of Black West Virginians in the early 20th century."

Bullock said she finds it fitting that the nomination will be voted on during Black History Month.

"I just think it will really put Beckley on the map, especially in the African American community," she said. "And not only will it be beneficial for the African American citizens in Beckley, but it would be nationally known or internationally known, because I have families that are already calling me that their families are buried there, and they are wanting to be connected to this historical project that is going on ... And for it to come about during Black History Month is just overwhelming and exciting, and I know the individuals in this community will be very excited that we can add this project to the history of Beckley."

The application for the Wright-Hunter Cemetery can be viewed at wvculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/WV_RaleighCo_WrightHunterCemetery_form.pdf.

Email: jmoore@register-herald.com