Bluefield, VA – Bluefield University will host local preservationist Susie Green as its featured speaker for Black History Month during the Wednesday, February 15 chapel service. Green will discuss Black heritage in Tazewell County and local initiatives to honor that heritage at 10:00 a.m. in Harman Chapel Auditorium.
Green has been a key figure in the restoration of the African American section of the Maple Hill Cemetery in Bluefield, Virginia. Once neglected and segregated, it is the final resting place of approximately 300 Black community members, who were veterans, pastors, and miners in the region. The section now boasts a historical highway marker from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. A memorial commissioned by Green has also been placed on site noting the names of more than 100 African Americans buried there whose gravestones were destroyed.
Additionally, Green was a member of the committee behind the “Standing Tall and Proud” mural on the side of the Tazewell County Courthouse. It portrays sixteen notable Black Tazewell County residents, the oldest of which were born as slaves in the mid-1850s. The twelve-panel design features ministers, educators, and community leaders.
Bluefield University hosts its weekly chapel service each Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. in the Harman Chapel Auditorium. The public is welcome and invited to attend this special event.
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