COLUMBIA, S.C. — Beautification and restoration come to an unlikely place - the first private cemetery for Black people in Columbia.
“This is part of our historic preservation month activities,” Betsy Kleinfelder said.
Kleinfelder is with Columbia’s Preservation Planning Department. She said the city partnered with the Beautification and Restoration Committee of Randolph Cemetery on Elmwood Avenue for a workshop and tour. It’s part of National Historic Preservation Month.
“All of our different aspects of local history help everyone have a better understanding of our world today and how we got to where we are,” she said.
The tour and cleaning aims to teach the next generation of Columbia residents its rich history.
The event was an opportunity to learn about hundreds of prominent Black people buried in the cemetery dating back to the Reconstruction Era. These include people like the Mann-Simons family, who owned a home and businesses in Columbia for nearly 130 years.
It also includes people like George Elmore, a businessman and civil rights activist and William Beverly Nash, who gained freedom from slavery at age 43 and later became a state legislator, which surprised some people.
“I did not realize that our legislature was predominantly Black post-reconstruction,” Jane Holmes said. "That shocked me. I didn’t know that about our state."
It was a chance for people to learn history while putting in a bit of elbow grease. City officials said they will have more events throughout the month. Find out more about them here.