Help Establishing Clearwater Colored Cemetery Descendancy Research Project?

Question

I’m really excited about bringing an existing community project to WikiTree, but I need some help. Any guidance that I can receive from leadership of the US Black Heritage, Cemeterist and Project teams (along with any other appropriate WikiTree experts) would be greatly appreciated.

The goal of the community project is to eventually identify living descendants and other family members of the approximately 600 people who were buried in two erased Black cemeteries that operated from 1909 to 1954 in Clearwater, Florida. More info, including the archelogy and ground penetrating radar studies on which the project is based, can be found on the Colored Cemetery Descendancy Research Project Space Page.

Those community efforts are being led by the Clearwater Colored Cemeteries Society, Inc., an organization headed by Patriva Mack (Mack-3965), a direct descendant and family member of ancestors who were buried in those cemeteries. I’m coordinating the hoped for WikiTree link to the project. Patriva and I are delivering a Pinellas Genealogy Society webinar presentation on the topic of the Clearwater Erased Cemeteries tomorrow, 3/19 at 1 PM ET. https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0rduqvqDgrGdxsfEwxkQ5DAU62NMkHaBPG

I’ve reviewed the 'Starting A Project' links, but I still need help walking through the process… Do I need to have some level of a Project badge before I can set up a project page and ask for volunteer help, or do I need to partner with a more experienced WikiTreer to get things started? May I please get some guidance on how to proceed?

Answer 1

This sounds like a very useful project!

Answer 2

I would love to help out with this project.  I am a member of the WikiTree US Black Heritage Project, and frequently work on doing profiles for everyone in various African-American cemeteries, mostly in Florida and Georgia.  This is right up my alley, in other words.

Do I just jump in on the spreadsheet and start working?  The instructions page is blank, but I see a few people have started on some profiles.

Here's one I have been working on recently for a cemetery in Florida, just to give you an idea of what I would do:

Tillman-2374|Willie Guss Tillman (abt.1889-abt.1952)

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Tillman-2374

Answer 3

Hi Georgette. I saw some of your work that you've already started and I've worked with Patriva before. We (USBH Project) have another cemetery project just like yours that we're helping with, so we already have a system in place to help with any necessary additional set up. I'll send you and Patriva a message.