Cemetery Preservation Workshop and African American History Harvest

Cemetery Preservation Workshop and African American History Harvest

Join the Jefferson County Historical Commission in downtown Beaumont for a daylong learning event and History Harvest, where the public is invited to bring their family photos, letters, and other precious items of family history. Staff at the Tyrrell Historical Library will be onsite helping scan items and providing families with free digital copies for their archives.Example items for African American History Harvest:

• Early family photographs
• Funeral programs or newspaper obituaries
• Church anniversary booklets/programs
• History of all-black schools - yearbooks or photos
• History of freedom colonies - old maps, deeds

The Texas Historical Commission’s Cemetery Preservation Program will be onsite presenting on best practices for cemetery preservation and hosting an interactive cemetery mapping station for Jefferson County and surrounding communities. Help us map the location of missing historic African American cemeteries in the Texas Historic Sites Atlas! We’ll end the afternoon with a special tour of Pear Orchard Cemetery, one of South Beaumont’s historic African American cemeteries that was recently designated at a Historic Texas Cemetery (HTC). Contact the Jefferson CHC to RSVP or sign up via Eventbrite.

Host or Publisher Jefferson County Historical Commission