Clearing the Slave Cemetery at Corhaven

Saturday May 16, 12.30pm-4.30pm

This month we’ve marked the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War and then the assassination of Abraham Lincoln a few days later. Lincoln himself interpreted that bloody war in part as divine punishment for our nation’s allowance of slavery. He said this in his Second Inaugural Address, and if it was, what a bitter fruit from a terrible vine. One hundred and fifty years later, there still is too much bitter fruit we all still taste from this legacy. The examples are legion, and it is deeply true that one way to address and mourn the terrible existence of slavery in our county’s past is to work hard for racial equality in America’s present day.

Sometimes, there’s even an opportunity to do something for the actual slaves themselves, sons and daughters of God who have long since found their rest after a hard hard life. One of those opportunities happens at Corhaven on Saturday, May 16 starting at 12.30pm.

As most of you now know, on Corhaven’s land is a cemetery that contains a number of graves and markers that is by almost every account the resting place for the slaves from a Civil War era plantation nearby. Earlier this year a group representing local Valley residents, Stonewall Jackson High School, and some from northern VA gathered to talk about what we might do honor them and what might be the next steps for us to take. We wrote a good report about that here with further thoughts on a way forward.

Since then we’ve been working on a number of fronts, and of course one of the most important steps is to really clear out the land that encompasses the cemetery itself and do our best to identify the graves. We count maybe 10 right now, but records indicate there are 25. That’ll be our main project on that Saturday, and we’d like to open up this opportunity to any who would like to be a part. We’ll take that opportunity also to share about what we’ve learned about the slave industry in this slice of Virginia and what we’ve come to learn about the people. We’ll also talk about our hopes moving forward for this sacred space, and offer prayers.

Feel free to forward this email or the event link to any you think might be interested in this effort. If you’re not able to come, please pray for this whole project. It feels bigger than us, and we’re just trying to take the next clear step and see where the road leads.

PS: Why is Coracle doing this? Click here to find out…