When Nadia Orton鈥檚 kidneys were failing, she sent letters to friends and relatives in the hopes that someone could be a donor or help defray the cost. Orton鈥檚 great-aunt Philgradore responded with money from her church. So a few years later, when Aunt Phil asked on her deathbed that her family not be forgotten, Orton knew she had to find a way to honor her ancestors. The problem was that she didn鈥檛 know who they were, or where to find them.
As she started tracing her lineage and locating her ancestors鈥� final resting places in North Carolina and Virginia, Orton began to notice the state of black cemeteries. Many were overgrown, unprotected and unmapped. Seeing the condition of these sacred spaces sparked a passion for protecting them.
Orton has since . Host Frank Stasio talks with , a public historian and professional genealogist, about how she uncovers the past and how it feels to find who came before you.
