Oakwood Cemetery Chapel staff seeking descendants of people of color to participate in vision project

AUSTIN, Texas - The Oakwood Cemetery Chapel staff is calling for descendants of people of color buried in the Oakwood Cemetery to participate in a vision session with Oakwood’s Historic Preservation and Archaeology project specialists.

Recorded discussions are set to take place between February and April 2022. Participants will be asked to attend a small group meeting over Zoom.

Participants may also record an oral history about their family. 

Oakwood Chapel staff may scan photos and documents to help preserve their family heritage. Family trees and genealogy records from descendants are important to the project.

The feedback will help imagine the 3D model of the thousands of unmarked graves in the area. It will provide public recognition of the men, women, and children buried in the area.

There will not be any physical changes to the grounds. However, using technology, you can see what the area would look like if every burial had a headstone.

The community engagement project will be facilitated by Dr. Laura Cortez of Cortez Consulting, with subject matter experts Dr. Maria Franklin, Dr. Tara Dudley, and Diana M. Hernández. Parks and Recreation staff will complete research recommendations with help from the community and local archives.

If you are a descendant of someone buried at Oakwood Cemetery, or have information on those individuals, please call Jennifer Chenoweth, Museum Site Coordinator for the Oakwood Cemetery Chapel, at 512-978-2310 or email Jennifer.Chenoweth@AustinTexas.gov.

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