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Volunteers work on clearing growth at East End Cemetery. (Photo courtesy Brian Palmer/Friends of East End Cemetery)
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Volunteers including "Mercy Street" actor L. Scott Caldwell (second from left) worked last year to clear debris from Evergreen Cemetery, the final resting place of some of Richmond's most influential blacks of the 18th and 20th centuries. (Photo by Erik Heinila)
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Work in progress in June at East End Cemetery. (Photo courtesy Brian Palmer/Friends of East End Cemetery)
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Volunteers work in May at East End Cemetery (Photo courtesy Brian Palmer/Friends of East End Cemetery)
Richmond's historic African-American cemeteries are getting a much-needed overhaul, and a nonprofit volunteer group is requesting input.
Friends of East End Cemetery, which has been working since the summer of 2013 to clean up the site in Church Hill, is holding a community meeting at the Robinson Theater tonight (Tuesday, June 27).
On the eve of the land's imminent sale and transfer to the Enrichmond Foundation (which purchased East End's equally-historic neighbor, Evergreen Cemetery earlier this month), the Friends of East End group is calling for relatives of the interred, and interested community members, to attend and get an update on the cemetery's condition, and to give their perspective on the next phase of its renovation.
"We'll be talking about Evergreen too, but we'll mostly be focusing on what we know, which is East End," says Brian Palmer, of Friends of East End Cemetery. "The family members know a whole lot of things we don't know and we are happy to provide a forum for them to speak their piece." Palmer says that this is the first public meeting of its kind about the restoration efforts at the cemeteries, and that the gathering will address concerns about future decision making and public access. "We have done all of the work over the past four years," Palmer argues, "and we believe our unrestricted access should continue. And that we should have a role in the decision making and planning for the cemetery going forward, whoever the owner is."
John Sydnor, the president of nonprofit Enrichmond, which works as a fiscal agent for dozens of local nonprofit groups as an unofficial arm of the city's Department of Parks and Recreation, says that disagreements between cemetery volunteers and his group are overstated, adding that there's a lot more to future work than cutting down brush.
"Besides clearing, we've got to bring in electricity, bring in plumbing, get a survey done ... there are no bathrooms. A lot needs to happen. We've got to get finances in order, grants written and managed through state federal and local agencies. What we're going to bring at Enrichmond isn't just weekend work, but weekday work, and of course we're going to work with the volunteers. They have been there on the ground doing the work. But we have to get a plan of action together, and we want everyone's input on that plan."
Sydnor says he plans to attend tonight's meeting.
East End and Evergreen are the final resting places for some of Richmond's most revered African-American leaders, including historic figures such as entrepreneur Maggie Walker and newspaper publisher John Mitchell Jr. Over the years, the mostly unkept burial grounds have been beset by overgrown trees and vandalism. In four years, Friends of East End has helped to unearth more than 2,000 grave sites hidden by nature. "We don't see 16 overgrown acres per se," Palmer says of his organization, which has been aided by more than 6,000 volunteers. "We see an opportunity to restore Richmond history and reconnect people with their families."
Tuesday’s meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Robinson Theater, 2903 Q St. in Richmond's East End.
One of the graves at East End Cemetery. (Photo courtesy Brian Palmer/Friends of East End Cemetery)
