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Graves of Freed Slaves to be Marked in Virginia

kgov.com

TUCKAHOE, Va. (AP) - Henrico County officials are planning to install a roadside marker honoring the historic significance of three local cemeteries that serve as the final resting places for freed slaves.
 
The Richmond Times-Dispatchreports that the marker will be unveiled during an Aug. 20 ceremony in honor of the Quioccasin (kwee-ock-a-sin), Westwood and Pryor Memorial cemeteries.
 
Those Richmond-area cemeteries hold the remains of those who lived in the historically black community of Quioccasin.
 
Local residents hope the marker will help the history of Quioccasin live on, especially as development has removed nearly all traces of the area's past.
 
Henrico County residents buried in the graveyards include longtime state lawmaker Dr. Benjamin J. Lambert III and singer-songwriter Tommy Edwards, whose song "It's All in the Game" topped the charts in the 1950.
 

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.