Congress renewing effort to preserve, protect historic Black cemeteries nationwide

There are countless historic Black cemeteries nationwide, with some dating back more than 200 years.

Some are the final resting places for former slaves and Black Civil War soldiers.

Many of these burial sites have been neglected, destroyed or lost for good.

For the Black cemeteries that are still intact, some of them are hidden in plain sight, just like the Mt. Zion Female Union Band Society Historic Memorial Park within Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown neighborhood.

This historic cemetery is a sacred space, with history dating back centuries, and with stories like Hezekiah Turner’s.

“He was one of the first Black men to vote. In 1867, D.C. gave Black men the right to vote ... three years before the 15th Amendment, here in Georgetown,” said Lisa Fager, executive director at Mt. Zion Female Union Band Society Historic Memorial Park.

Turner’s legacy is just one of possibly 10,000 graves at this cemetery.

When you visit the park and meet Fager, she’s not just the cemetery’s executive director. She’s a walking history book and she knows almost every story hidden beneath these graves.

“Once you start learning their lives and what they went through, and then what they achieved in spite of, they deserve, more than deserve, to rest in place. They deserve to rest in peace,” said Fager.

It’s a peace that hasn’t been easy to come by.

Fager said this cemetery opened in 1809, and it’s still physically here, but other Black cemeteries haven’t had the same fate.

“They’re now, you know, dog parks, and parks and basketball courts, and here I am struggling to save the oldest Black cemetery in D.C.,” said Fager.

Now some lawmakers on Capitol Hill are trying to help.

“It’s an opportunity to teach history,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio.)

Brown reintroduced the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Act in February.

If passed, it would set aside $3 million annually for the next five years to help communities research, identify, survey and preserve Black cemeteries.

“So many of the achievements of this country, especially for African Americans, have been far too often forgotten,” said Brown.

Brown said the bipartisan bill is co-sponsored with Republican Sen. Mitt Romney. He said the legislation was inspired by a 2019 visit to a Black cemetery in Ohio.

Brown said he’s optimistic it’ll pass with bipartisan support.

“This can be such a tangible look at what we have here, what you physically can see,” said Brown.

Fager said that federal support is desperately needed. She said not just to protect these burial sites, but to help uncover the history left behind.

“I know there are connections with the enslaved, the free and the white people, and so i would love to connect the dots. This is history. This is going to tell us a story. We shouldn’t be hiding or be afraid, we should want to know the truth,” said Fager.

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