Throughout the past six months, I have had the unique pleasure of working with the Independent Heights' project Preserving Communities of Color in their continued efforts to recover and preserve cemeteries associated with the African American communities of South Texas. After some coordination with the Pastor, I was given access to the first cemetery in need of documentation in April. There are several fascinating points about this site, not the least of which being that it has been continuously in use by the local African American community since the 1880s.
Among the wide variety of grave markers were some that were so worn down, they were initially taken to be old field markers: short columns made of cement that are at the corner of farmer's fields in order to show where property lines are. However, close inspection at the base revealed they were some of the oldest grave markers on the property. These had either sunken down into the soft dirt, or else the century of activity of the nearby farmland had caused enough silt to bury them nearly a foot. Multiple other grave markers were partially or almost completely buried in the earth, some of which seemed to be very new additions to the cemetery. A cursory analysis suggested that buried grave markers were likely to be found along the northwest side of the cemetery.
These grave markers are key in establishing a better picture of the history behind this small town. But another, more elusive, facet of the cemetery lies in its flowers. While there are extensive efforts to preserve the wildflowers of Texas, the biodiversity in cemeteries often creates an undisturbed snapshot of local wildlife. However, in this cemetery there were a few patches of plants that are associated with food production (such as fennel), as well as several patches of an invasive species: scarlet pimpernel. While scarlet pimpernel looks remarkably similar to an edible local plant, chickweed, it is decidedly not edible and native to England.
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