Paved-Over Black Cemeteries Aren’t Just In Florida
60 Minutes Investigates Paved-Over Black Cemeteries in Clearwater, Florida… But, They’re Everywhere
On Nov 28, 2022, 60 Minutes aired the ongoing investigations and community conversations around the destruction of an entire city’s black cemeteries. As you may know, the practice of paved-over Black Cemeteries by all levels of government across the United States, is not unique to Clearwater, Florida. What is unique, about the situation in Clearwater, Florida, are the resources that the local government and corporations (who now own the roads, parking lots, and buildings), that are on top of these Black Cemeteries, have dedicated to re-discovering them. In Harrisburg there is little awareness or conversation about restoring dignity to Harris Free Cemetery, or finding out who remains buried there.
Pennsylvania is Just Like Florida (but Colder)
In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania all of the historical Black Cemeteries have been paved over or built on…Save one. And that, of course, is Lincoln Cemetery. All across Pennsylvania you can find Black Cemeteries that have disappeared. The most common method of erasure was moving the headstone from the cemetery and building a playground or public park on top of the interred bodies.
Learn More:
“Cemetery for Enslaved Africans Lies Underneath Staten Island Parking Lot.” NBC New York (blog). Accessed August 10, 2022. https://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/community-top-stories/positively-black/cemetery-for-enslaved-africans-lies-underneath-staten-island-parking-lot/3313013/.
“Abandoned Black Cemeteries Will Be Uncovered with DeSantis Bill Signing.” Accessed December 4, 2022. https://spectrumnews1.com/wi/green-bay/news/2021/06/07/abandoned-black-cemeteries-will-be-uncovered-with-desantis-bill-signing.
WUSF Public Media. “Anthropologist: Building Over African American Cemeteries Not Just A Southern Problem,” December 4, 2019. https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/news/2019-12-04/anthropologist-building-over-african-american-cemeteries-not-just-a-southern-problem.
“‘Battlefield of Memory’: Asphalt Where a Black Cemetery Is Said to Have Stood – The Washington Post.” Accessed August 9, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-battlefield-of-memory-asphalt-where-a-black-cemetery-is-said-to-have-stood/2017/02/23/af01ba42-efa2-11e6-9973-c5efb7ccfb0d_story.html.
NBC News. “Black Cemeteries Are Bulldozed and Vandalized. Descendants Are Cleaning up Alone.” Accessed November 4, 2022. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/growing-movement-black-cemeteries-rcna15566.
Black Cemetery Network. “Black Cemetery Network.” Accessed May 12, 2022. https://blackcemeterynetwork.org.
Estep, Tyler. “DeKalb Finds Evidence of Paved over Graves near Black Church Cemetery.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, n.d., sec. Local News.
James A. Schnur. “A Grave Situation: Part One,” September 16, 2020. https://thegabber.com/a-grave-situation/.
“Preservation of African-American Cemeteries.” Accessed December 3, 2022. https://www.sciway.net/hist/chicora/gravematters-4.html.
Harrisburg Daily Independent. “Trustees Hold A Meeting: Arrangements to Be Made for a Better Burial Ground.” September 16, 1892. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87184680/harris-free-cemetery-trustees-to/.
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