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Senior Services’ intriguing next-door neighbor.
The Odd Fellows Cemetery is Senior Services’ next-door neighbor and an important historic site in Forsyth County. The cemetery was created in 1911 by two African-American fraternal organizations, the Twin City Lodge and the Winston Star Lodge. It is important to the social and cultural history of Winston-Salem as the city’s largest African-American graveyard, containing the remains of as many as 10,000 individuals who lived during the mid-19th century Civil War period. Some of Winston-Salem’s most prominent African-American community members were buried at Odd Fellows Cemetery, including George Hill, a founder of the Winston Mutual Life Insurance Company, and Reverend R.L. File, a longtime pastor at Mt. Zion Baptist Church.
In 2000, Odd Fellows Cemetery was designated as a Forsyth County Local Historic Landmark, 
and in 2008, the property was placed on the North Carolina National Register of Historic Places Study List, but it is not the only significant African-American cemetery in Forsyth County.
After being inspired by the recent Fox8 series, Forgotten Souls of Black Cemeteries, Preservation Forsyth (the city and county’s organization created to protect historic resources) partnered with A/perture Cinema, Friends of Oddfellows Cemetery, and Happy Hill Cemetery to launch The Unmarked Initiative: Historic Black Cemeteries in Forsyth County, NC. Their goal was to initiate a countywide community discussion about the historic impediments and preservation struggles in Forsyth County’s African American cemeteries to preserve and restore these historic sites.
The Unmarked Initiative launched with two outdoor showings of the recent documentary, Unmarked to highlight two of the Forsyth County African-American cemeteries. Each showing will took place near the historic black cemetery being highlighted to create an opportunity to both visit the cemetery and speak with the individuals and organizations working to preserve this important history.
Since the initial screening in 2021, Senior Services employees have volunteered time toward the worth cause. It is a great opportunity to get outside and engage with coworkers that you may not have a chance to interact with on a regular basis. If you are interested in volunteering, contact Joel McIver at jmciver@seniorservicesinc.org .