It is believed that the oldest graves in the Oxford Cemetery date to the late 1830s, soon after the founding of Emory College in 1836 and the City of Oxford in 1837. The oldest marked African-American gravesite that we know of in the cemetery is that of Rev. Potter (1812-1851).

Many of those buried in the African-American sections worshipped at Rust United Methodist and Mount Zion Baptist Churches. Since the early 20th century, most funerals at the cemetery have been conducted by Lester Lackey and Sons Funeral Home and the Young Funeral Home. There are at least-twenty Gaithers buried in the cemetery.

For much of the cemetery's history, white and black graves have been segregated, by law or custom. The southeastern section of the cemetery (along Emory Street, east of Asbury) is believed to be entirely "white," with the exception of the grave of the woman known as Kitty (c.1823-c.1855), an enslaved woman owned by Methodist Bishop James Osgood Andrew, the first chairman of the Board of Trustees of Emory College.

The predominantly African American sections were located in the northern section (along present-day Richardson Road) and in the western section, to the west of Ashbery street. In 1965, the Oxford Historical Cemetery Foundation was established by members of the Oxford white community. The Foundation took responsibility for the care and upkeep of the southeastern, "white "section of the cemetery. Neither the Foundation nor the City of Oxford expended funds on care for the historically African-American sections of the cemetery. In the early 1990s, the northern section of the African-American cemetery (directly across from Mt. Zion Baptist Church) was seriously damaged by a pulp wood company. Many headstones were broken or buried in the process.

The precise legal relationship between the historically white and African-American sections of the cemetery, as well as the status of the Oxford Historical Cemetery Foundation, remain subject to considerable debate. However, in recent years the City of Oxford has begun to expend funds on the upkeep of the historically African-American section. Plots in the new, southwestern section of the cemetery area are now being sold irrespective of race; the newest part of the cemetery is thus integrated.

The above documents, donated to the exhibition by the family of J.P. Godfrey, Jr, shed some light on economic activities in the Oxford African American community in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The letter on the left to Professor J.P. Godfrey, Sr. (1896-1982) refers to one of his businesses. In addition to serving as an educator and school principal, Professor Godfrey initiated busing black children in Rockdale County by purchasing and driving a bus himself. This letter (August 20, 1947) by Mrs. Dorothy Bolton of Burge Plantation to Professor Godfrey, makes reference to Professor Godfrey's effort to purchase a school-bus.

The two promissory notes on the right, to Professor Godfrey's father, Israel Godfrey (1849-1929) were signed by his wife Sallie Godfrey (1871-1943).