North Woodlawn Cemetery: CRM and the Legacy of Jim Crow

Summary

This is an abstract from the ""Is There Gold in that Field?" CRM and Public Outreach on the Front Lines" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

North Woodlawn Cemetery served Fort Lauderdale’s African American community during the period of legislated racial segregation. In the 1960s, part of the cemetery was purchased by the State of Florida and incorporated into the Right-of-Way (ROW) for Interstate 95. In 2012, Janus Research began working with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) on possible improvements in the vicinity of North Woodlawn. A major part of this research involved ascertaining if unmarked graves were present within the I-95 ROW. An assumption of project archaeologists and planners was that local citizens would welcome the excavation of remains from the ROW for reburial within extant cemetery boundaries. Public outreach soon made it obvious that this view was not shared by the local community. Through continued consultation between FDOT, the Florida State Historic Preservation Officer, Janus Research, and local stakeholders, creative methods for investigation and preservation at North Woodlawn were reached. Field methodology was limited to remote sensing techniques, including use of a cadaver dog, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), and radar tomography. Extensive interviews with local informants were an important component of the investigation. In the end, project engineers, state planners, local politicians, and community activists were able to collaboratively achieve mutual project goals.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• "Is There Gold in that Field?" CRM and Public Outreach on the Front Lines

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32622