Iredell County Public Library recognized for work with Green Street Cemetery

In 2022, North Carolina Humanities awarded a Large Grant to Iredell County Public Library to conduct ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys of Green Street Cemetery to discover unmarked graves and help establish the cemetery as a designated historic site. The cemetery is thought to be the oldest cemetery in Statesville and the largest in the county for formerly enslaved peoples.

We are beyond honored to announce that our Local History and Genealogy Department was recently recognized at the national level for their work on this project. The National Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society in Washington DC presented the Paul Edward Sluby, Sr./Jean Sampson-Scott Meritorious Achievement Award to the library for distinguished performance in support of African American Genealogy. This occurred during their 45^th National Conference in October, and the Paul Edward Sluby, Sr./Jean Sampson-Scott Meritorious Achievement Awards are the second highest awards that can be bestowed by AAHGS upon an organization who has exhibited distinguished performance and measurable contribution to African American history and/or genealogy within the past two years.

None of this would have been possible without our amazing community partners: North Carolina Humanities, Statesville Branch NAACP #5454, City of Statesville NC, Downtown Statesville, Omega Mapping Services, local community members, descendants, and volunteers who supported and assisted with this effort.

Learn more about the full extent of the Green Street Cemetery project at https://nchumanities.org/grantee-spotlight-iredell-county-public-library/.