Lincoln Cemetery: Jim Crow’s Graveyard, Harrisburg’s Black Cemeteries & How There’s Only One Left

It is time to tell the true history of Harrisburg’s Black Cemeteries. Lincoln Cemetery is Harrisburg’s oldest Black cemetery, but it was not founded in 1816, 1817, or 1827, as written iron on the cemetery’s front gates…The grounds of Lincoln Cemetery were consecrated, outside of the city limits, on November 18, 1877, on a plot of land that lies on the border of what is now the Town of Penbrook and Susquehanna Township in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania. Prior to the consecration of Lincoln Cemetery, several African American burial grounds existed within Harrisburg’s boundaries: the African Graveyard, Bethel Cemetery, Wesleyan Cemetery, and Harris Free Cemetery, though there may have been others. What is the meaning of the phrase “Jim Crow’s Graveyard”?…Answer: The legacy of segregation has always extended beyond death.

The Historical Abuse & Neglect of Harrisburg’s Oldest Black Cemetery

Lincoln Cemetery has suffered from nearly 150 years of abuse:

Multiple incidents of extreme vandalism

For a time in the 1990s youth used the cemetery as an ad-hoc dirt-bike course to practice stunts.

Arson, resulted in a complete loss of original burial records in 1884 and in the 1930s, as well as all buildings on the property.

Mismanagement of the Perpetual Care Fund that was established to maintain the cemetery.

By the 1970s, almost all plots were sold and burials slowed. Dwindling resources, an aging membership body, and the decreased prominence and visibility of Lincoln Cemetery in Harrisburg’s Black community left Lincoln Cemetery in an ambiguous state of ownership.

It is rumored, and evidence exists to support such rumors, that it may have been a financial shortfall during the construction of a new church building that led to the dis-incorporation of the cemetery’s governing body, The Lincoln Cemetery Association.

The perpetual care funds that were established and had been growing through interest earnings and donations for roughly 100 years.

By the second decade of the 21st century, Lincoln Cemetery most closely resembled an overgrown pile of felled trees and discarded brush. The only grave markers that could be seen were sinking and broken.

The Historical Significance of Lincoln Cemetery Harrisburg

Lincoln Cemetery is clearly a significant cultural heritage resource for the region. But Lincoln Cemetery is also Nationally significant!

Harrisburg’s unique geographical position, also made it a transportation hub, a crossroads and waypoint for Americans migrating North, South, West, and East during the 1800s. It is a source of unexplored and untapped stories and data about the Black Family, social networks and community development in the 18th-20th centuries. It is an untapped well in an individual’s quest to break the 1870 brick wall, and has the ability to galvanize all people to a deeper understanding of the important and significant role Black People had in the building of our nation.

SOAL’s restoration work at Lincoln Cemetery brings people together from across all the spectrums of American diversity and it heals us.

SOAL: SavingOurAncestorsLegacy was formed in June 2021, as a descendant led volunteer-based nonprofit organization working to restore Lincoln Cemetery, through conservation and preservation work onsite, public history research, and the digital humanities.