SHAWN ROCCO - srocco@newsobserver.com
A memorial at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Raleigh now marks the site of the former Wake County Home Cemetery. Church parishioners and descendants of the deceased gathered for a dedication service on Thursday August 19, 2010.
RALEIGH -- The Wake County Board of Commissioners today gave official recognition to the nearly 300 poor, sick and older people once cared for at its county home, then buried in what had been an unmarked cemetery near Five Points.
This morning's dedication ceremony brought together four descendants of people who had been buried in the home, operated from 1915 to 1979, with members of the board of commissioners and representatives of Emmanuel Baptist Church, which for decades had cared for the grassy field behind its sanctuary.
A broken headstone that for years was the only marker of the graveyard is now joined by generous plantings, two stone benches and a plaque honoring those buried nearby.
"This memorial is a small way in which we can honor them," said commissioner Betty Lou Ward, who attended along with commissioner Joe Bryan.
Ward placed the ceremony in the long context of Wake's caring for people who were facing difficulty because of age, disease and mental illness.
Karen Marie Allen, branch manager, Olivia Raney Local History Library, recounted the efforts of staffers and many volunteers who went through more than 90,000 death certificates to identify 292 former residents of the home who had been buried there.
News of the cemetery came to light during research on the construction of a new Raleigh senior center to be built nearby.
