To provide observations and information on the emerging fields of landscape scale conservation, heritage preservation, and sustainable community development.
Stay up-to-date with the latest nature, culture and community news.
We won’t spam you or share your information. Newsletters are sent approximately 10 times a year. Unsubscribe at any time.
Memorial Park in the peaceful Central Pennsylvania town of Carlisle is just one example of the tragic fate of African American burial grounds. The site of this park was once the Lincoln Cemetery used by the African American community from between 1840 and the early 1900s. While the number of burials is not known, they probably numbered in the hundreds including 35 former United States Colored Troops (USCT) veterans. In the 1970s the site’s use as a burial ground was erased, except for one small plaque, to make a community park. What lessons can we lean from this story?
African American cemeteries are at risk across the country as many have been forgotten or face disuse and abandonment. Working with Congress and the National Park Service, innovative legislation has now been drafted to establish the African American Burial Grounds Network. The bill was introduced by dedicated sponsors Representatives Alma S. Adams (NC-12) and A. Donald McEachin (VA-04) who recognized the strong spiritual and patriotic as well as historic association of these sites for the African American community.
Memorial Park in the peaceful Central Pennsylvania town of Carlisle is just one example of the tragic fate of African American burial grounds. The site of this park was once the Lincoln Cemetery used by the African American community from between 1840 and the early 1900s. While the number of burials is not known, they probably numbered in the hundreds including 35 former United States Colored Troops (USCT) veterans. In the 1970s the site’s use as a burial ground was erased, except for one small plaque, to make a community park. What lessons can we lean from this story?
African American cemeteries are at risk across the country as many have been forgotten or face disuse and abandonment. Working with Congress and the National Park Service, innovative legislation has now been drafted to establish the African American Burial Grounds Network. The bill was introduced by dedicated sponsors Representatives Alma S. Adams (NC-12) and A. Donald McEachin (VA-04) who recognized the strong spiritual and patriotic as well as historic association of these sites for the African American community.