SOAL’s Action 4 Heritage 2025 In the face of changing tides and an increasingly fraught political landscape, there are moments that demand clarity, unity, and decisive action. Today, we find ourselves in one of those moments. To this end, we are organizing SOAL’s Action 4 Heritage 2025, an event dedicated to mobilizing … Continue reading →
Death, Tech, & Afrofuturism: Juneteenth Harrisburg Join us for a compelling journey through time as Rachael Keri Williams, founder and Executive Director of SOAL: Saving Our Ancestors’ Legacy, delivers an inspiring talk titled “Death, Tech, & Afrofuturism” in this video from the YPOC 2024 Juneteenth Harrisburg Summit, held on June 18th at … Continue reading →
MapGed.com: AI Innovation Meets Hands-On Historic Preservation Explore the groundbreaking intersection of technology and tradition with Saving Our Ancestors’ Legacy (SOAL) as we harness community-powered public history research and engage in hands-on historic preservation at the Historic Lincoln Cemetery in Harrisburg. SOAL founder and Executive Director, Rachael Keri Williams presented SOAL’s work … Continue reading →
List Update: Harrisburg’s Civil War Veterans Buried at Lincoln Cemetery An update to the list of Harrisburg’s Black Civil War Veterans buried in Lincoln Cemetery: No. 133: Henry C. Keith “Harry Keath” Private Co. B 8th USCT No. 134: Albert Chamberlain Corporal Co. F 25th USCT For the original list Harrisburg’s Civil … Continue reading →
Expert Claw Maneuvers Rescue Historic Headstones in Black Cemetery In a striking display of nature’s force versus human heritage, daring, and ingenuity at Lincoln Cemetery, just beyond the city limits of Harrisburg, an urgent Black Cemetery headstone rescue operation unfolds. The scene is a delicate balance of tension and intent: four historic … Continue reading →
Civil War Veteran: Henry C. Keith in the 8th USCT Civil War veteran Henry C. Keith served in the 8th United States Colored Troops (Pvt. Co. B 8th USCT) which placed him at the heart of some of the Civil War’s most pivotal and harrowing moments. The 8th US Colored Infantry was … Continue reading →
Ex-Slave School: Rare Photo Reveals Harrisburg Black History Stumbling upon a rare photo of a classroom at an “Ex-Slave School” in Harrisburg in the early 1900s, was an exhilarating moment in my journey as a public historian. This isn’t merely a rare historical find; it’s a profound revelation of Harrisburg Black History, … Continue reading →
SOAL Partners: Black Cemetery Historic Preservation with ArcGIS The historic Lincoln Cemetery in Harrisburg, PA, is not just a cemetery; it’s a testament to African American heritage, harboring the stories and legacies of many prominent individuals. Historically, African American burial sites in the United States, including Harrisburg’s oldest historic Black cemetery, have … Continue reading →
Legacy Reborn: Harrisburg Lincoln Cemetery at 146 Years Today marks the 146th anniversary of Harrisburg Lincoln Cemetery, a site of profound historical and cultural significance for our community (regardless of how far we are from the grounds today). Consecrated on November 18, 1877, this sacred ground has been a resting place for … Continue reading →
Enslaved in Pennsylvania: County Slave Registries Database 1780-1847 There is no single repository for Pennsylvania’s surviving county slave registries. “Some have survived as individual registrations, others as original manuscript registries, and others still as transcripts of original documents.” If you are researching people who were enslaved in Pennsylvania these are invaluable resources, … Continue reading →
Rise of a Railroad Hero: Black Dick’s Symphonies of Freedom Rise of a Railroad Hero: Black Dick’s Symphonies of Freedom (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 … Continue reading →
Thank you Preservation Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Hallowed Grounds!
By participating in this project, we become [Legit/On The Books] radical history reclamation role models for future preservation endeavors across the country. Together, we have the power to inspire and create a lasting impact on the preservation of our cultural heritage.
Transcribing Lincoln Cemetery: Kindred Spirits & SOAL Collaboration We’re transcribing Lincoln Cemetery! In a collaborative effort to preserve African American history in south central Pennsylvania, SOAL: SavingOurAncestorsLegacy has partnered with Kindred Spirits Genealogy Workshop Group (GWG) to transcribe the burial record cards of Lincoln Cemetery. This collaboration aims to digitize and make … Continue reading →
WGAL News 8 Live at Harrisburg’s Oldest Black Cemetery 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 … Continue reading →
Black History is not Lost it’s just Buried | SOAL Hoodie Support the Black Cemetery movement! Support saving your ancestors’ legacy. Support Saving Our Ancestors’ Legacy…And, get your own “Black History is not Lost it’s just Buried” Premium Eco SOAL Hoodie! Manny after the arrival of his hoodie! Showing support for the … Continue reading →
Black Dick: Astonishing Legend of a Disabled Railroad Hero (Black Dick Part #1) Though, he was born in abject poverty, and spent all his days “without escutcheon or family tree, reared in no palace, tutored in no university, thus lived and died one of nature’s noblemen”—Who was Richard Smith? Who was this … Continue reading →
Black Civil War Veterans Organize First G.A.R. Post #520 The G.A.R. was the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization formed by and for veterans of the Civil War, and no one else. The Gustavus V. Catto Post, No. 520, was the first name of the only GAR post formed by and … Continue reading →
I am a Descendant Reclaiming Black History in the Whitest State in America “We want to rename a building at UMaine for your grandmother!” Beryl Warner Williams Hall It’s been 2 years since I accepted that challenge… And I’m not sure that anyone at the University knew what they were getting into … Continue reading →
Lewis Elmer Robinson was a First in Black Boyscouting Lewis Elmer Robinson, of Harrisburg, Pa, was a first in Black Boyscouting he broke the International Jamboree Color Line in 1933! The history of the Boy Scouts in America is apparently, hotly contested, when it comes to Firsts…some claim that the first African … Continue reading →
Eating Human Bodies at Black Cemetery–Harrisburg Eyewitness Report This too is African American History: Ghouls (aka Bodysnatchers, Graverobbers) were one of the more horrific realities of 19th century death…this story is far more gruesome!! …Eyewitnesses report ghouls eating human bodies at a Harrisburg Black Cemetery. Plus…Dogs eat people? I guess dogs do … Continue reading →
Harrisburg Telegraph (1908) ‘A Trip Around the World-The Ladie’s Guild-Harris A.M.E. Church’, 30 March, p. 2.
Continue reading →John Johnson: Private Company D 42nd United States Colored Troops John W Johnson was born in August 1837 in Pennsylvania. He joined the 42nd United States Colored Troops, and served as a private in Co. C. during the Civil War.It was most likely after the war that he married Betty Bliss Carey, … Continue reading →
Harrisburg’s Civil War Veterans Buried at Lincoln Cemetery This list is by no means complete, but I figure if I keep waiting until it is complete, I would never be able to publish it… While compiling this, long-overdue, list of African American Civil War Veterans buried at Lincoln Cemetery, I realized that … Continue reading →
Was one of the Civil War Veterans buried in Lincoln Cemetery one of the Black Men executed in Harrisburg in 1874? Was John Preston involved in the Behm murder? I was searching for background information on John Preston, a Civil War Veteran, with an elusive background, when I found him on trial … Continue reading →
Isaac William France Ex-Slave, Storyteller, Elocutionist, Singer Isaac William France was an ex-slave, a lover of poetry and a master storyteller. His tales, and personal association with leading figures in both the Confederate and Union armies positioned Isaac as a highly sought-after speaker in Harrisburg. On at least one occasion he was … Continue reading →
George Alvis (1800-186?): Black Blacksmith of Harrisburg, PA George Alvis was born in 1800 in Richmond, Virginia. By 1830, he was the head of a Free African American family living in Harrisburg, PA. He was a Black Blacksmith. He is buried in Lincoln Cemetery, Harrisburg’s oldest historically Black Cemetery. Before the White … Continue reading →
Trustees Hold A Meeting They Hope For New Free Black Cemetery Creation In September of 1892, the Star-Independent published the occurrence of what may have been the last meeting of the Harris Free Cemetery Trustees. The Harris Free Cemetery Trustees held this meeting in order to agree on a place to buy … Continue reading →
Rachael & Bhakti visiting their ancestors’ home, and Underground Railroad site, on Yellow Hill in Adams County, before their visit to Lincoln Cemetery in Harrisburg. (Edward Mathews and Francis Gantt purchased 17 acres for their family, a church, and a cemetery in the early 1840s…Only the house, barn, & pond remain visible).
Continue reading →The Voice of Black Women Civil War Activists When Jane Welcome wrote to President Lincoln on November 21, 1864 both of her sons were serving in the United States Colored Troops. She had received no word or money from her youngest son, Israel, who was serving with the 55th Mass, and had … Continue reading →
Buried in Lincoln Cemetery–A Black WWI Vet Who Died in Barre, Vermont James Young was a Black Man who lived much of his life in Harrisburg…But when I initially searched for him I couldn’t even find a death certificate… He died in 1933, but I had little information to go on (without … Continue reading →
Israel Mullin was born between 1814-1820 in Pennsylvania. He married Jane’s daughter Mary Fisher Welcome, owned his own property and land, and built a family with Mary before he joined in the Civil War. He enlisted in Co A of the 43rd USCT on the 9th of March 1864 in Philadelphia. At … Continue reading →
In 1907 R. H. Haywood was walking behind the “Old Negro Cemetery” in Harrisburg when he found a trunk lying in small creek. The Star-Independent Sep 2, 1907.
Continue reading →Driven on the Bypass? Arsenal Blvd? N. 17th St.?
Are you driving on Black Bodies buried below the pavement, under the PennDOT building and parking lot?
Radical History Reclamation Demo: Black Family History Needs Light Everyday I learn a little more about all of the things we can’t see without light… This is especially true when it comes to history. Everything that has been shut away in forgotten drawers, missed in dismal attic corners, and especially those things … Continue reading →
Black Family History Gems: 1961 Photos of William Penn Scholarship Recipients Black Family History Gems: Earlier today, I was searching for news about a Harrisburg, PA native who went on to Bennett College, I found this awesome article in the High Point Enterprise (published in Greensboro, NC), it lists 21 William Penn … Continue reading →
Maggie Brooks or Maggie Pue? Kidnapped from Nashville or Toledo? Enslaved in Cuba or Enslaved in Haiti? Black Woman or Black Girl? Artist or Con-artist? Was Maggie fabricated by White press?
Continue reading →Seemingly art frees an enslaved girl, who was kidnapped, abused, and tortured for 14 years in Cuba. In 1880, she is finally home, searching for her parents in Toledo.
Continue reading →First Professional Black Artist in Pacific Northwest is from Harrisburg, PA: trailblazing 19th Century Black Artist Grafton Tyler Brown: cartographer, craftsman, communicator, documentarian, entrepreneur, and pioneer.
Continue reading →Hummelstown Brownstone: South Central PA Brownstone If you’ve ever wondered why there is so much Brownstone at Lincoln Cemetery…. Here is the beginning of an explanation–the Hummelstown Brownstone Company. You can find a completely thorough review of the history of the Hummelstown Brownstown Company by visiting this excellent site created by Peggy … Continue reading →
This is my Endgame. It’s time to gather ancestors… At SOAL we are saving our ancestors legacy. We will do it bone by bone if we have to. We’re gonna need them where we trying to go: We can’t have a future without a past. I’m not trying to leave anyone behind, … Continue reading →
