Spring 2024 Newsletter: Preserving the Legacy of Black Baltimore
This issue highlights the legacy of abolitionist J. Murray Ralph, ongoing efforts to document Laurel Cemetery burials through death certificate research, and the stories of United States Colored Troops interred at Laurel Cemetery. It also features preservation updates and related historic cemetery initiatives.
What's Inside
1 | FEATURES
J. Murray Ralph in the Nanny Jack & Co Archives
Examines the life and legacy of James Murray Ralph, a Baltimore abolitionist, civic leader, and close friend of Frederick Douglass, whose story is preserved through archival artifacts and his connection to Laurel Cemetery..
5 | RESEARCH
The Death Certificate Transcription Project
Volunteers continue identifying Laurel Cemetery burials through Baltimore death certificates, building a searchable database that supports genealogy and historical research.
6 | PROFILES
USCT Burials at Laurel
Profiles several United States Colored Troops buried at Laurel Cemetery, preserving the stories of Black Civil War soldiers whose lives have been reconstructed through historical records.
Download the Full Newsletter
Download the complete newsletter to read every story, browse additional photos, and stay up to date with the Laurel Cemetery Memorial Project.
Read More Issues
Winter 2022 Newsletter: Remembering Laurel’s “Ordinary” People
This issue centers the lives of everyday people buried at Laurel Cemetery through one family’s discovery of its personal connection to the site. It also profiles George Alexander Hackett and uses death-certificate data to estimate the cemetery’s total number of...
Fall 2023 Newsletter: West Baltimore Archaeology
This issue explores archaeological and data-driven research into Baltimore’s African American history, from excavations in West Baltimore to mapping the residences of people buried at Laurel Cemetery. It also examines the 1875 killing of Daniel Brown and the response...
Spring 2023 Newsletter: Laurel Cemetery in the Classroom
This issue highlights how students and faculty at Coppin State, Johns Hopkins, and Morgan State are using Laurel Cemetery to study Baltimore’s African American history. It also explores Samuel E. Young’s community legacy, historical causes of death at Laurel Cemetery,...