Column: A New Generation of Volunteers Are Rescuing Historic Black Cemeteries—And Black History

When the internationally renowned preacher John Jasper neared death in 1901, he could look back on a life spent overcoming dire challenges. Born enslaved in Fluvanna County, Va., in 1812, Jasper had become famous for his controversial, fundamentalist sermon on how “The Sun Do Move.” Greater than that frequently delivered sermon, however, was the legacy of his Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church, which he founded in Richmond, Va., in 1867.