Geer Cemetery is the final resting place of more than 1,650 African American citizens of Durham and surrounding counties. The earliest origins of Geer Cemetery date to its first land deed on 28 March 1877. It documents the sale of the land to John O’Daniel, Nelson Mitchell, and Willis Moore by Jessie and Polly Geer. The last documented burial at Geer Cemetery occurred in 1945. Without maintenance, the cemetery fell into disrepair and became unrecognizable as a graveyard.
In the early 1990s, Geer Cemetery became the focus of a work/training and clean-up project organized by the Durham Service Corps. Again, because there was no regular maintenance plan, nature dominated the space and obscured many standing stone monuments. In the late 1990s, Kelly Bryant recommitted to rallying descendants, allies, and neighbors to help organize and reclaim the site. In 2003, Friends of Geer Cemetery (FoGC) was established.
Since there are no surviving records from the cemetery itself that kept track of who was buried here, volunteers have searched for clues in census records, marriage and death records, city directories, church programs, and other archival sources.
We know of approximately 1,650 burials. This figure is based on the nearly 200 monuments that are visible, as well as death certificates that came into use in September, 1909. FoGC research and preservation efforts are continual and ongoing. We hope to secure funding for an archeological survey that will analyze ground depressions, hidden structures, and other physical evidence in order to determine the number of actual burials.