App developed by graduate student aims to help preserve African-American cemeteries
A mobile app that helps document the existence and conditions of African-American cemeteries in Texas is being developed by Jennifer Blanks, a Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Sciences student at Texas A&M.
“Documenting is really important,” said Blanks. “The knowledge of a cemetery is step one in the preservation process.”
The app’s development is part of the Texas Freedom Colonies Project™, led by Andrea Roberts, assistant professor of urban planning.
Roberts’ project is dedicated to the history, planning, policy and preservation of freedom colonies — self-sufficient, all-Black settlements founded in the Lone Star State between 1865-1930 by formerly enslaved people.
