This article has been corrected since it first appeared online.
Woodland Restoration Foundation Executive Director Marvin Harris at the gravesite of Arthur Ashe Jr.
Woodland Cemetery is one of a number of historic African American cemeteries in the Richmond area. Started in 1917 by John Mitchell Jr., editor of the Richmond Planet newspaper and a civil rights activist, it’s also the final resting place of tennis champion, activist and humanitarian Arthur Ashe Jr., who was buried there in 1993 beside his mother.
Over the years, this historic 30-acre cemetery had been neglected. With overgrown weeds covering headstones and pathways, visitors could barely venture through the cemetery in some areas.
Then in August 2020, Marvin Harris purchased the cemetery from the UK Corp., which had owned the property since 1983. Harris had previously been involved in the restoration of the nearby Evergreen Cemetery, another historic African American cemetery in Richmond that had fallen into disrepair.
“[I wanted] to bring dignity back to the approximately 30,000 people interred out there,” Harris, 72, says. “We needed someone to step back in and bring prominence, and it fell on us.”
Ashe’s presence at Woodland was the reason Harris decided to work on restoring the cemetery.
“Arthur Ashe could’ve been interred anywhere in the world,” Harris says. “Just to have him willing to come back to Richmond and be interred in a place that wasn’t properly kept, that drew me back.”
Harris, a real estate broker, purchased Woodland for $50,000, with a $25,000 donation from Henrico County and contributions from Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, Ashe’s widow. He started the Woodland Restoration Foundation, previously known as the Evergreen Restoration Foundation, in December of 2020 and is its executive director.
“I support these efforts to restore the cemetery and unlock the rich stories of those buried there,” Moutoussamy-Ashe said in a statement in August 2020. “A holistic understanding of Richmond’s poignant history may be the best way to lead us all into the future.”
Graves awaiting restoration at Woodland Cemetery
Volunteers, including Harris, have worked daily to remove overgrowth, mow grass and uncover grave markers. One of those volunteers is Thomas Mraz, 71, a Mechanicsville resident and the father of Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Jason Mraz.
Two years ago, Mraz and his wife, Dianne, were driving through the area and stumbled upon Woodland Cemetery. “We went through the gate and saw Arthur Ashe’s grave, but then looking around, the grass was so tall, and trees were everywhere. You could hardly see anything else,” he recalls.
About a year ago, they visited again and noticed people cleaning up the site. Mraz met Harris and told him if he needed anything to give him a call. Two days later, Harris contacted him, and Mraz has been helping three days a week since December 2020.
Mraz donated his zero-turn lawn mower to the foundation and has been helping clear the property. His family, including his wife and three children, has volunteered their time to help with the restoration. Son Jason donated $5,000 to the foundation’s GoFundMe page to restore the electrical system of the chapel that is housed in the cemetery.
“When this came up that we needed money for the restoration of the chapel building, [Jason] decided to help,” Mraz says. “He’s part of the team, and when he comes home, he helps manually, too.”
Harris plans to convert the chapel into a mini-museum that will house artifacts from Woodland and plans to build an education center on the premises so younger generations don’t forget the people who helped build Richmond.
The Woodland Restoration Foundation has made progress, but funds are still needed to fully restore the cemetery. Harris says they’ll need about $250,000 to redo the roads within the cemetery to make them safe for travel and approximately $450,000 to convert the chapel and build the education center. “I use the term ‘village’ quite a bit because it really takes a village to bring this back into prominence,” Harris says. “Just to show the respect to these people that have been interred out there.”
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