Discovery of caskets spurs
further debate about cemetery
" That fence separates the cemetery from the
apartments, but we have always believed
that the cemetery did not stop at that fence."
- Henry Stepp
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
For years, members of a
group working to restore Odd
? fallows Cemetery have
t'Jaimed that a fence that sepa
raies the old graveyard from
ail apartment community is
I nix an accurate indicator of
?the cemetery's boundaries.
Tljey claimed that the ceme
teft\ a premier burial site for
, African Americans in the
yearly 20th century, actually
"fKjends into the apartments'
ijjoperty.
?*?- Members of the group are
-Saying. "1 told you so," this
2week, after two caskets were
2-uliearthed last week on the
?Jjr'operty of Millbrook Apart
!?!? "That fence separates the
cemetdry from the apartments,
but we have always believed
that the cemetery did not stop
at that fence," said Henry
Stepp. president of the Odd
fellows Cemetery Reclama
tion Project.
A crew from Duke Power
discovered the graves while
digging at the apartment com
plex, which is behind the fair
grounds and Joel Coliseum.
The crew, covered the graves
back up. according to police,
and notified the apartment's
maintenance personnel about
the discovery. The manager of
the complex was notified on
Monday and she contacted
police.
Senior Police Officer
Craig Stewart said the Police
Department is 99 percent sure
that the bodies in the coffins
are from the nearby cemetery
and that there was no foul
play. Records for the cemetery
were destroyed in a fire. The
departmenl is trying to contact
local historians to try to iden
tify the remains.
"Our chief concern is
merely to find out who are in
the coffins and that they
belong there." said Stewart,
who added that no one in the
department has experience
with a case of this kind.
The apartments now
known as Miilbrook have
changed ownership several
times since they were built in
the 1970s. The N.C. Housing
Foundation has owned the
apartments since 1996.
Community Management
supervises the units. John
Nichols, vice president of
property management for
Community Management,
said Community Management
and the property owners are
trying to help the authorities
in any way that they can.
"The owners (of the prop
erty) are compassionate and
concerned about this situa
tion," Nichols said.
Many people pass by Odd
Fellows Cemetery each day
and do not realize that it is
there. In the 1940s the ceme
tery began to fall into disarray
after members of the Odd Fel
lows fraternal order, who took
pride in maintaining the
grounds of the cemetery,
began to die off. Over the
decades, thick trees, bushes
and roots transformed the bur
ial ground into something
unrecognizable. Some head
stones in the cemetery date
back to the 1890s, and some
historic African Americans
rest there, such as G.W. Hill,
one of the founders of Win
ston Mutual Life, and the r?5.
R.L. File, the founder of Mt.
See Graveyard on A10
File Photo
Efforts to improve conditions at Odd Fellows Cemetery have
been ongoing for the past several years. Here a headstone is
nearly invisible because of shrubs and vines.
File Photo
Gary Green stands on the roof of one of the buildings on Forsyth Tech's Main Campus.
/ BSC m
7 FILLERS T
I Register to Win \
an
Easter Stocking
On March 30th
For more information call the mall office at:
(336) 722-7779
MARKHPUCtflMAlL
\il 2101 Peters Creek Parkway
Winston-Salem, NC 27127 *7
Open Daily 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., l^jj
\ 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays VaVLh
FTCC's Green to be installed
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Dr. Gary M. Green will be
installed as the sixth president
of Forsyth Technical Commu
nity College by the board of
trustees on Thursday, April 4.
at 2 p.m. The ceremony will
take place at the Stevens Cen
ter.
Classes will be suspended
for the day at FTCC so that
students, along with anyone
from the community, can
attend the ceremony at the
Stevens Center. A reception
will follow at McMillan's
Cafe at the Stevens Center.
During the installation.
Green will unveil the strategic
plan for the college. Forsyth
Tech's strategic planning
directions came from a group
of community and college
leaders.
Green officially took
i
office on July I. Before arrfv
ing at Forsyth Tech, Green
served as executive vice pres
ident of Calhoun Community
College in Decatur and
Huntsville, Ala., the largest
community college in Alaba
ma. While working at Cal
houn Community College.
Green was active in economic
development, leading Cal
houn's relocation of its
Huntsville campus to Cum
mings Research Park and
developing partnerships with
NASA, the U.S. Army, and
other high-tech research and
development entities there.
He also was instrumental
in the planning, design and
development of the college's
$40 million Aerospace and
Advanced Technology Park
on its Decatur campus.
Green is personally com
mitted to students, learning,
and technology at Forsyth
Tech. He said the college will
? continue to be committed to
work-force development in
the Piedmont Triad, as well as
within North Carolina.
"Forsyth Tech was estab
lished over 40 years ago to
provide the trade and techni
cal training needed by the
local community. It is impera
tive that we not forget the
roots from which we came and
why we are here. Technology
will play an integral role in
how we deliver our products,"
Green said.
Green also serves on the
board of directors of the
Greater Winston-Salem
Chamber of Commerce and
the board of directors.of Ideal
liance (Piedmont Triad
Research Park).
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