Mud Creek Archive receives $8,500 grant from Alabama Historical Commission
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama (February 6, 2020) - Mud Creek Archive is pleased to announce that it has received a $8,500 grant from the Alabama Historical Commission.
Mud Creek Archive’s mission is to educate others on African-American ancestry in Northern Alabama through its efforts to promote scholarly research and provide resources for historical and genealogical studies.
The funding will allow the organization to focus on a number of historical preservation endeavors, including:
Grave Marker Cleaning & Repair and Fence Repair in Jackson County
Mud Creek Archive will work with the Jackson County community and hire a specialist to take the lead on this project. Repairs will follow good preservation practice as listed in the Alabama Burial Act, including using the Alabama's Historic Cemeteries: A Basic Guide to Preservation outlined by the Alabama Historical Commission’s Cemetery Program.
Alabama Historical Commission Historical Marker for Old Baptist Cemetery
To assist Alabama historians and historic preservationists in educating the public about this historically significant cemetery, Mud Creek Archive will work directly with the manufacturer of AHC markers and plaques, Sewah Studios in Marietta, Ohio, to arrange for the production, delivery, and installation of the marker at Old Baptist Cemetery in Hollywood.
Pre-Restoration Survey of Old Baptist Cemetery
Historic African-American burial traditions utilized natural markers like wood, shrubbery, or flowers, which have been lost through the passage of time, leaving sections of Old Baptist Cemetery bereft of headstones or other visual markers. This creates unique opportunities and challenges for restoration. To determine what lies beneath, Mud Creek Archive will partner with a remote sensing firm for a technologically advanced survey of the cemetery as part of the restoration project. The goal of the survey is to find unmarked burials and cross-reference the flagged locations with the cemetery's burial records to verify the data.
“I have a long personal history in this area, as I know many of us in this region do, and the work of our organization is focused on preserving that rich history, particularly in Jackson and Madison Counties,” noted Chauncey Robinson, Founder of Mud Creek Archive. “This grant will allow us to continue our efforts of preserving the traditions of our African-American community by protecting the places that represent significant milestones in our collective past.”
The grant was awarded as part of the Alabama Historical Commission’s 2020 Grant Program, which will administer $900,000 in grants during this fiscal year to support improvements and educational programming at historic sites in Alabama to help preserve them for future generations.
About Mud Creek Archive
Founded by Chauncey Robinson, with a goal of providing members of his community with an opportunity to identify their roots and ancestry, Mud Creek Archive provides African-American genealogical study and education in Northern Alabama. More information can be found online at mudcreekarchive.org.
