Student Reflections – Lucas DeBenedetti

May 16, 2023

By Lucas DeBenedetti, Undergraduate Research Assistant

It’s difficult to put into words how much this project has meant to me over the past two years. As I prepare to graduate from Clemson on Friday, May 12, I have been reflecting on my time working for the Woodland Cemetery Project.

I joined the cemetery project in Fall 2021, taking part in the project’s first Creative Inquiry class. In that class, I learned about the history of Woodland Cemetery and Clemson University as a whole for the first time and was given the opportunity to research a historical topic that interested me pertaining to the cemetery’s history. My group and I studied how disease and death affected the enslaved population of Fort Hill Plantation. The Creative Inquiry project opened my eyes to the history around me and left me with the desire to help the project in any what that I could. When the opportunity to join the project as a research assistant became available in January 2022 I immediately rushed to apply. I was lucky enough to get the job and have enjoyed working on the project ever since.

Throughout my time as research assistant, I have taken part in some amazing projects. During the Spring of 2022, with Dr. Collini and Nolly Swan, my former coworker, I helped to create the “Visual History of Woodland Cemetery.” This was such an interesting project to research, and we discovered so much new information about the cemetery, particularly the destruction of the western half of the cemetery and how it is related to the construction of Lake Hartwell and Clemson’s dikes. By the end of the semester, we had created the StoryMaps project that is currently on the cemetery’s website.

In the fall of 2022, I went with the team on our trip to William and Mary to meet the Lemon Project and see their monument. This trip was so inspirational, and I was able to get closer to the rest of the team as well as learn how other universities deal with their history of slavery and racism. The trip gave me hope that one day Clemson will build a memorial to the enslaved men and women, convict laborers, and sharecroppers who have largely been ignored in the greater history of Clemson University.

This past semester I took part in Universities Studying Slavery, South Carolina Research Symposium where I presented on destruction of the western half of the cemetery and using digital history methods to present my findings to the public. I was also able to gain new skills in genealogy, with the help of genealogist Deborah Robinson, mapping, and research. I have loved all the projects I have worked on, all the trips we have taken as a team, and all the people I have gotten to meet through this experience. I only hope that I was able to make a positive impact on the project and Clemson history as a whole.

The Woodland Cemetery Project team has been extremely supportive of me throughout my entire time on the project. They have been an amazing community for me and have always looked out for me and helped me throughout the entirety of my time working on the project both inside of class and work as well as outside. Firstly, I want to thank Dr. Sara Collini who has been my main mentor throughout my time on the project. Dr. Collini has been incredibly supportive of all my endeavors both inside and outside the project. She has taught me skills that will help me during the rest of my academic and professional career as well as guiding me on how to be a proper historian. I would also like to thank Dr. Thomas for giving me this opportunity to work on this incredible project and always challenging me with new projects. Dr. Thomas has been such an inspirational figure to me and has inspired me to continue pursuing justice in my historical research. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Mandi Barnard, Deborah Robinson, and Marquise Drayton. Each of them has been there for me on different occasions and have been amazing to learn from and get to know them throughout my time on the project.

The Woodland Cemetery Project has furthered my love for history immensely and allowed me to discover my passion for justice. It inspired my senior honors thesis, as I combined my loves of World War II history and African American history and led to me writing a thesis on African American soldiers during World War II and how they have been perceived by the American media past and present.

I plan to continue to grow my passion for history and justice at grad school at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte where I will pursue a master’s in history. I will take all the lessons and information I have learned in this project to further the research I began with thesis as well as pursuing new research interests in civil rights history. One day I hope to become a history professor and potentially an expert historical witness in civil rights court cases.

The Woodland Cemetery Project has been the most rewarding and meaningful experience during my time at Clemson. I will miss working on this project and seeing my coworkers and mentors so much. The project provided me with a sense of community and purpose that I had been lacking at Clemson. Working on the project has been an unforgettable experience that will stick with me for the rest of my life and will impact how I study history and look at the world around me going forward. I am honored to have worked on project from the first Creative Inquiry class to the present. Though I am leaving the project, I will never forget the experiences I have had, the opportunities to learn and grow I have gained, and the people I have met. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for this project, and I will miss it so much.