SOALupdates and Lincoln Cemetery News

SOALupdates and News Snippets

If the SOALblog has been a bit slow to publish lately…That’s because we’re out in the field restoring Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s oldest remaining Black Cemetery, doing Black genealogy research, collaborating with our partners, designing new SOALswag (for our African American burial ground themed online store), creating new videos for TikTok, exploring new technology for historic preservation, recovering the histories of our enslaved ancestors & designing new innovative software for radical history reclamation! But–you can still get snippets of the latest news & SOALupdates on the ongoing work of SOAL: SavingOurAncestorsLegacy at Harrisburg’s Lincoln Cemetery & beyond.

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  • When 2 Buffalonians found unburied dead--they created SOAL: SavingOurAncestorsLegacy now they are restoring the PA Capital's oldest Black Cemetery.
    Our Ancestors Deserve Honor Respect
  • SOAL--Saving African American History at Harrisburg, PA's oldest Black Cemetery--Lincoln Cemetery.
    Radical History Reclamation
  • Noah Pinkney was a former slave who became a community icon, soldier, and leader in both Carlisle and Harrisburg. He is pictured here selling pretzels on the campus of Dickinson College in the early 1900s.
    Noah Pinkney is not forgotten He rests in these hallowed grounds
  • It's our 3rd year leading Black Cemetery Restoration Weekend Events! Become a volunteer with SOAL: SavingOurAncestorsLegacy , and join us at Harrisburg's historic Lincoln Cemetery in 2023!
    Hands On SOAL Lincoln Cemetery Volunteer Restoration Weekends
  • Manny showing support for Black Cemetery #radicalhistoryreclamation Black History is not Lost it's just Buried premium Eco SOAL Hoodie.
    Manny in New SOAL Hoodie
  • The Story of "Black Dick" is the Astonishing Legend of Richard Smith, an African American Disabled Railroad Hero who lived in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and is buried in Lincoln Cemetery.
    Richard Smith is remembered an African American Disabled Railroad Hero
  • At Harrisburg's oldest Black Cemetery WGAL News 8 Live: Volunteers working with SOAL at Harrisburg's Lincoln Cemetery will collect geospatial data, photographs and information related to each stone in the cemetery with a mobile app (ArcGIS Field Maps), which will be used to produce an interactive map that allows descendants and researchers to find ancestors' graves.
    Lincoln Cemetery Day of Service
  • In a collaborative effort to preserve African American history in south central Pennsylvania, SavingOurAncestorsLegacy's blog has partnered with Kindred Spirits Genealogy Work Group (GWG) to transcribe the burial record cards of Lincoln Cemetery. This collaboration aims to digitize and make accessible invaluable primary source documents, contributing to the preservation of African American heritage in the region.
    Building Local Global Partnerships to Combat Erasure Inequity
  • Sneak Preview of Beryl Warner Williams Hall Mural created by Rachel and Ryan Adams.
    Reclaiming Roots Personhood through the Arts
  • Ray Wilson was a player and team captain in Early Negro Leagues Baseball. He led the Champion Philadelphia Giants to numerous victories, but he got his start in playing for the Harrisburg Giants. He is buried in Lincoln Cemetery.
    Finding Ray Wilson at Lincoln Cemetery
  • Immerse yourself in the early 19th Century Black experience in south central PA-- from the perspective of those who lived through it. Death on the Tracks & The Rise of a Railroad Hero (Black Dick Part #2) is a historically-based storytelling (a creative nonfiction & microhistory), of the life and deeds of Richard Smith. Richard was was most likely born near Gettysburg in the late-1830s to mid-1840s. Richard Smith, aka "Black Dick" grew up in a small shack, in a historically Black neighborhood called Judystown, located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. During his lifetime "Black Dick" was considered a "feebleminded giant" who stood near 7 feet tall by the time he became a legendary figure. Today, we would consider him neurodivergent... in other words, Richard was an Autistic Savant.
    Build Our FutureFollow Our Ancestors
  • Sneak Preview of Beryl Warner Williams Hall multimedia kiosk based on the family history research of Rachael Keri Williams including original letters and documents from the family's New England Black history from the 1600s through today!
    Unsilencing the Past Using New Technologies
  • Our Stories Need To Be Told