This is a special post re-published from the April 2023 newsletter. Read the full April 2023 newsletter.
By Lucas DeBenedetti, Undergraduate Research Assistant
This past month Sue Hiott, curator of exhibits for Clemson University Libraries’ Special Collections and Archives, recovered new evidence, in the form of four color photographs, which adds more context to the destruction of the lower, western half of Cemetery Hill and how it connects to the construction of the upper and lower dikes around Clemson’s campus.
Previous editions of the history series have detailed the removal of the lower, western half of Woodland Cemetery and its relation to the construction of Lake Hartwell and the protective dikes around Clemson University’s campus.
For context, this removal occurred as a result of the construction of Lake Hartwell by the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the 1960 Court Order, in which Clemson College petitioned Oconee County in August 1960 for the right to disinter the remains of Black laborers they came across while grading and clearing the western slope.1 The judge granted Clemson permission to do this and together with the Nello Teer Construction Company, Clemson made plans in September 1960 to proceed with the grading and clearing of the western slope.2
While the lower western half was being graded and cleared, the remains of at least five African American children were found and identified by their hair, teeth, coffin nails, and the size of their burial.3
Based on the evidence the project has collected thus far, the dirt taken from the lower. western half of the cemetery was used to build the dikes that currently protect Clemson University’s campus from being flooded by Lake Hartwell.
The photographs depict the lower western half of Woodland Cemetery during different stages of its destruction. Each image bears a small caption detailing the context behind each specific image.
The first image depicts a man staring at a number of field stones and bears the caption “Rotie looking at slave grave markers Cemetery Hill.”4 A black and white version of this photograph is also located in the Papers of Carrel Cowan- Ricks in Clemson’s archives. The name Salley was previously known in relation to these images, but the name ‘Rotie’ was unknown to the project. The man is standing in an unknown location on Cemetery.
The three other photographs in the series detail the lower western half of the cemetery in various stages of its destruction:
The second color image includes the caption “Cemetery Hill being cut for use in upper dike Oct. ’60” and shows construction equipment moving dirt from the lower western slope, which has been completely cleared of trees. This photograph appears to confirm that dirt from the lower western half of the cemetery was utilized in the construction of the upper dike near the Esso Station.5
The remaining third and fourth photographs found last month were both taken after October 1960. They bear the captions “Moving dirt from Cemetery Hill Nov ‘60”6 and “Cutting down Cemetery Hill.”7 Both images portray how the lower western section of the cemetery was completely cleared and leveled, demonstrating how the lower western slope was destroyed over the course of two months. Prior to the destruction of this section, the cemetery sloped all the way to the Seneca River and Perimeter Road, with a much greater elevation. The second image showcases this change in elevation, as the lower, western half is almost parallel to Perimeter Road as opposed to sloping into it.
These photographs were likely taken around the time of the 1960 Clemson homecoming football game on November 5, where an aerial image of the stadium and cemetery was taken showcasing the removal of dirt from the western slope. Today, the cleared area serves as a parking lot for Clemson University’s students.
These primary source photographs are the best evidence that the cemetery team has received and analyzed that confirm that the dirt from the lower, western half of the cemetery was used in the construction of the dikes to protect Clemson from the flooding of Lake Hartwell.
Despite the fact that the construction of the dikes around Clemson’s campus was ordered by the US Army Corps of Engineers and contracted by Clemson and the Nello Teer Construction Company, there is a scarcity of documentation, official or otherwise, pertaining to the use of the dirt from the lower, western half of Woodland Cemetery to build the dikes.
It is important to remember that these are not just photographs of dirt being moved or part of a hill being destroyed. They are images of the destruction of individuals’ gravesites, some of them children’s, whose names will likely never be known.
Citations
1. State of South Carolina, County of Oconee, Court of Common Pleas, Ex parte: The Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina, In Re: The Purported Cemetery of Unknown De- ceased Persons, Petition, 22 August 1960, Mss 366, Box 2, Folder 17, Papers of Carrel Cowan-Ricks, Special Collections and Archives, Clemson University Libraries.
2. Memorandum of Understanding between Clemson and Nello L. Teer Company, September 13, 1960, Mss 366, Papers of Carrel Cowan-Ricks, Special Collections and Archives, Clemson University Libraries.
3. Carrel Cowan-Ricks, Interview with Robert Ware, July 17, 1992, Series 613, Site History, 1895-2008, The Woodland Cemetery Stewardship Committee Records, Special Collections and Archives, Clemson University Libraries.
4. “Rotie looking at slave grave markers Cemetery Hill,” 1960, Unaccessioned Collection of Rotie Salley, Special Collections and Archives, Clemson University Libraries.
5. “Cemetery Hill being cut for use in upper dike Oct. ’60”, October 1960, Unaccessioned Collection of Rotie Salley, Special Collections and Archives, Clemson University Libraries.
6. “Moving dirt from Cemetery Hill Nov ’60,” November 1960, Unaccessioned Collection of Rotie Salley, Special Collections and Archives, Clemson University Libraries.
7. “Cutting down Cemetery Hill,” 1960, Unaccessioned Collection of Rotie Salley, Special Collections and Archives, Clemson University Libraries.
