Thanks to the very hard and regular work of Bill Stocker, and dozens of other volunteers, the historic Meadow Lane African American Cemetery has been saved from oblivion. 

We have had dozens of Centre College students (notably Delta Delta Delta sorority, and Bonner students) helping us since my last letter to the Advocate in March 2018 when I announced that we were going to save the cemetery. The cooperation of the abutting landowners has been greatly appreciated.

The Central Kentucky African American Cemetery Association through Nancy Estes of Stanford, now has surveyed the cemetery, and will be filing a deed this week with the county clerk’s office.  So the old “we don’t know who owns it” argument will no longer be valid. Now we KNOW who owns the cemetery.

Our next step is to approach the City Commissioners to see if the City of Danville (“Historically Bold”) will step up to the plate and take over maintenance of the cemetery. Mayor Perros has assured me that he supports our efforts.

We have hundreds of hours of volunteer work over the past year, and it seems only proper that Danville would want to maintain its oldest and arguably most historic African American cemetery — it probably predates even Bellevue!

So thank you to all who have helped on this project. Last spring, the Boyle Landmark Trusts marked Meadow Lane as a site in danger of being lost. Well, we have NOT lost it. Now it is up to the City of Danville to step forward and keep it from being lost in the future.

Michael J. Denis

Parksville