The Woman’s Club of Fairmont raised the money for the headstone for “Aunt Hat.” Nancy Bickerstaff, club president, said if the club has a project that they really believe in, they get behind it.
FAIRMONT, W.Va. — A relative of the last-living slave in Fairmont gathered with members of the community to honor her great-great-aunt Thursday.
On the 75th anniversary of Harriet “Aunt Hat” Whitely’s burial, the Woman’s Club of Fairmont and historian Raymond Alvarez dedicated a headstone on her previously unmarked grave.
Following the dedication at her resting place in the Evergreen Cemetery, attendees made their way to the Woman’s Club of Fairmont for a tea and a program on her life by Alvarez.
Whitely’s relative, Toni Meade-Carter, said being able to be a part of the events from California was exhilarating.
“I have been interested in our genealogy for a long time and really hadn’t done much with it,” she said. “So for Mr. Alvarez to take the time to look at my great-great-aunt’s history and then bring it forth like this is really just amazing…
