An Interesting Prince George's County Cemetery Project

Aaron Levinthal

At the April 8 CCASM Zoom meeting Aaron Levinthal told how the State Highway Department relocated graves from an abandoned late 19th through mid-20th century African American cemetery known as Simon Hill.  These graves were not supposed to have been there.  Years ago the St. Paul Baptist Church had paid to have the graves relocated.  In the intervening years trees had grown on the property, but there was evidence that some graves still remained.

Aaron related how they recovered over forty full burials and over twenty partial burials from the site.  From the beginning the project included public outreach and cooperation with a congregation and descendant community.  One of the burials that was encased in a metal vault contained a woman.  Historical and genealogical research and subsequent DNA testing identified this woman.  The remains of all the burials were reburied in Maryland National Memorial Cemetery.

There are four MPT videos on "The Dig: A Maryland Mystery Lady" that tells about this project.  Here are the links to Part One  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4.

Aaron Levinthal is a Consultant Archaeologist with the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration.

A snapshot of those listening to the talk -

Attendance: 10