by Jane Thurman, RCCP and Dana Deaton, PRI
Preservation Raleigh is proud to announce an exciting new alliance with the Raleigh City Cemeteries Preservation (RCCP), a partnership that will ensure the lasting accessibility of vital historical resources for our community. As RCCP concludes its operations after years of dedicated service, Preservation Raleigh will be taking on the important role of hosting their extensive website and archives on our platform.
This collaboration marks a significant moment for historic preservation in Raleigh. RCCP, founded in 2006, has been instrumental in advocating for and preserving Raleigh’s historic public cemeteries. Their efforts have led to remarkable achievements, many of which have paved the way for the City of Raleigh to assume a more direct role in the ongoing care of these historic sites. As RCCP’s board has dissolved, entrusting their legacy to Preservation Raleigh allows their valuable work and research to remain readily available to the public.
The RCCP Story
Raleigh City Cemeteries Preservation (RCCP) was founded in 2006 with a mission to promote the history of Raleigh’s public historic cemeteries, raise funds for maps and research, and provide conservation and preservation repairs for monuments, fences, and stone walls.
The initial board of directors emerged from other like-minded local historic preservation groups. Jane Thurman, Terry Harper, and Alpha Howze, transitioning off the city’s Raleigh Historic Districts Commission, conceived the idea of a separate board to support the cemeteries. Ray Hinnant and Betsy Shaw, representing the Wake County Historical Society, brought their concerns about the neglected City Cemetery to the Raleigh city manager. In response, city staff hired a consultant to craft a strategic plan for advocacy and care of the historic sites. Michelle Pacofsky, then marketing director of Oakwood Cemetery (and later an RCCP board member), helped to bring others to the group, remembering those who expressed concerns to her about the substandard conditions of City Cemetery. The fledgling RCCP held their first meeting in 2006 at the Olivia Raney Local History Library.
With the support of RCCP board members, the late Margie Haywood, her daughter, Betsy Haywood, and cousin Sandra Walker, RCCP’s first fundraiser was a cocktail party held outdoors at Haywood Hall in Raleigh. This well-attended event formed the basis for support and membership of RCCP. Haywood family board members graciously hosted RCCP meetings at Haywood Hall for many years .
RCCP board members brought diverse experience in history, research, historic preservation, landscape architecture, legal issues, marketing, graphics design, as well as a shared love of historic cemeteries. Jane Thurman served as chair, and later president. Terry Harper, vice chair, and Betsy Haywood were trained in archaeology, helpful for field work. David Brown, a landscape architect, served as board secretary, whose tenure was followed by Lucy Pittman. Christine McDonald, a marketing director and designer, served as treasurer. Board members Ray Hinnant later served as chair, and Betsy Shaw as treasurer—and storyteller. Robin Hammond, an attorney, oversaw and crafted the paperwork for RCCP’s 501C3 designation. David Permar, an attorney, was also a top fundraiser. Charles Blunt had an interest in databases, critical to updating cemetery records, including O’Rorke-Catholic Cemetery, and along with Betsy Shaw created City Cemetery’s Shaw-Blunt database.
Left to right:
Board members Emily Grant, Jane Thurman, Terry Harper, Sally Thigpen ( with the City of Raleigh) Ray Hinnant, and Dave Permar.
Other board members included Shelby Lynn Reap, Diana Mauney, and John George, who all served as board chairs, and Sarah Woodward and Emily Grant, who served terms as secretary. Orrin “Ray” Haywood served numerous consecutive terms until their final year of operation. Gaston Williams and Brenda Holloman also served past terms. Bill Sandifer provided professional photography for RCCP. Over the years, advisors to RCCP included Robert Rader, Janet Cowell, Karen-Marie Allen, Dan Becker, Greg Hatem, David Black, Edna Rich-Ballentine, and Martha Ashby.
RCCP’s preservation and conservation work by the talented and thoughtful restoration expert Dean Ruedrich was completed over a 12-year span until Dean’s death in 2018 after a battle with leukemia. Under Dean’s careful craftsmanship, RCCP funded restoration of more than 100 monuments located in City Cemetery, Mount Hope Cemetery, and O’Rorke-Catholic Cemetery in Raleigh.
Ruth Little, historian, author, and expert on historic cemeteries, successfully wrote and researched the 2009 National Register of Historic Places designations for City Cemetery and Mount Hope Cemetery, and the Local Historic Landmark Designation for O’Rorke-Catholic Cemetery in 2011.
Photos and location of markers included in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) maps were funded by RCCP, completed by local engineering firms Withers & Ravenel for City Cemetery in 2009, and mapping for the Mount Hope Cemetery historic section by KCI Associates in 2015. These GIS maps and data were later donated to the city of Raleigh. In 2019, RCCP partnered with the City of Raleigh to fund Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) mapping for the 1.5-acre enslaved section of City Cemetery, with astonishing results showing more than 1,000 individuals interred there, mostly in unmarked graves.
The ingredient for their long-term success before RCCP disbanded in 2023 was an excellent working relationship with city of Raleigh staff—the basis of a successful private-public partnership. Through sheer perseverance and dedication, RCCP also developed solid relationships within the community, schools, colleges, and civic and preservation groups seeking to fund public projects, as well as descendants of ancestors interred in the cemeteries.
In 2009, with the urging and support of RCCP, the Raleigh City Council established the City of Raleigh Historic Cemeteries Advisory Board (HCAB) to provide guidance for board members and accomplish work goals for the historic cemeteries. Several RCCP board members served terms on the HCAB, which still exists today.
To share years of their research and information gathering, RCCP has donated papers and photographs to the Olivia Raney Local History Library. The research of historian Betsy Shaw is also part of the library collection.
Preservation Raleigh is honored to carry forward the digital legacy of the Raleigh City Cemeteries Preservation. We invite you to explore the newly integrated RCCP website and archives on our platform, where you can delve into the rich history of Raleigh’s cemeteries and appreciate the incredible contributions of the RCCP. This new resource will be invaluable for researchers, historians, and anyone interested in the stories these historic sites have to share.
We extend our deepest gratitude to Jane Thurman, one of the founders of RCCP, and to every individual who contributed to the success of this organization. Their dedication has left an indelible mark on Raleigh’s historic landscape and will continue to inspire our shared commitment to preservation.
We encourage you to visit this new section on our website, here, to discover this invaluable new resource!
rccpreservation.org
