Remembering and Preserving the Historic Piney Grove Cemetery

Photo courtesy of Heidi Ullman

Smothered by construction and damaged by gentrification, the once thriving historic African American community of Piney Grove now exists as only a shadow of its former glory. Yet, though weathered, one remnant of this past life remains a testament to the community’s resilience: the cemetery. 

With over 300 graves dating back to the 1800s, the Piney Grove Cemetery in Buckhead houses many loved ones from Piney Grove and other historic African American communities in the area. The nonprofit organization Friends of Piney Grove Cemetery focuses on protecting the site by raising awareness and coordinating resources. 

Oglethorpe junior and aspiring archivist Heidi Ullman first became aware of Piney Grove while working in the university archives last summer. An immediate interest was sparked and involvement in volunteer events soon turned to speaking with Audrey Collins and Rhonda Jackson, the sisters leading the advocacy work for the cemetery. “We agreed to talk soon about how Oglethorpe, and my efforts, could best support the goals and needs of the cemetery and community,” Ullman said. 

This semester, Ullman has been working with the university archives on a history internship focusing on the Historic Piney Grove Cemetery. Fortunately for her, an opportunity to organize and apply for funding for a service project through the Serve For Good grant presented itself.

Day of the panel | Photo by Fynn Grindle

“I was awarded the grant and through a lot of planning, re-planning, phone calls, and meetings, we planned a community day [for March 26 at 5 p.m. in the Intercultural Center],” Ullman said. “The purpose of the community day was to foster relationships between Oglethorpe University and the Friends of Piney Grove. Day of, we had a lovely panel of speakers including the CEO of Friends of Piney Grove, Audrey Collins, and two Oglethorpe faculty, Dr. Gittens-Wheeler and Eli Arnold.”

The panel welcomed audience input and quickly turned into a full-room discussion of shared thoughts and anecdotes. Community members took part in exactly what the purpose of oral history is: keeping experiences alive. Some attendees also shared and bonded over their frustrations surrounding the deterioration of Piney Grove. 

“What makes up this government that says ‘I have the right to come in and take advantage of a set of people that don’t really understand what’s going on’?” one member said. “How do you fight something you don’t really know who it is or what it is or what kind of powers they have?”

A lack of public recognition and accessible information about Piney Grove lent to its unfortunate erasure. “Apart from what the Friends of Piney Grove and Buckhead Heritage Society have posted about the space on the internet, written information about the cemetery is hard to come by,” Ullman said. “I wondered where the stories were. Where were the records of the businesses that operated there, the homes that once made up the neighborhoods? Where had the people gone? Why had they left? And most importantly, what did they have to say about it?” 

And so, Ullman’s investigation started and with the library’s support, Ullman was able to unearth the “rich and plentiful” stories about the Piney Grove Cemetery, church, and relatives of descendants.

“That’s the responsibility for schools that look like Oglethorpe to not only preserve the experiences of students but of the communities around,” Arnold, the university’s Library Director, said during the event. “It’s a privileged position from Oglethorpe that we can help preserve; once it’s here and we’re the steward of that, it’s going to exist here forever.” 

February 2025 cleanup | Photos from the Friends of Piney Grove Facebook

Both the Friends of Piney Grove and the Buckhead Heritage Society have taken steps to help restore and revitalize the cemetery and Ullman planned to continue working with the Friends.

“The upcoming goals that we have developed are to conduct oral histories, continue to research in order to compile a general history of the community, and get OU students involved in the clean-up effort,” she said. Individuals interested in volunteering can visit either of the two organization’s sites for more information or reach out to Ullman. The next clean-up days are scheduled for May 3 and May 17 from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m..