By Marnita Coleman
Special to the AFRO
Across the nation, African-American cemeteries are being neglected, their sacred grounds left to decay while other historic burial sites receive the care and preservation they deserve. These hallowed resting places, rich with Black history and the legacies of the ancestors, are drowning in overgrowth, their headstones shattered and their graves sinking into the earth—erasing the names and stories of those who built the very foundations of Black communities.
In Baltimore, Mount Auburn Cemetery stands as a proud testament to African-American heritage, recognized as the city’s oldest Black-owned and operated cemetery. As a designated historic landmark and a site on the National Register of Historic Places, it serves as the final resting place for many who paved the way for future generations.
Established in 1872 by the Rev. James Peck of Sharp Street Memorial United Methodist Church, Mount Auburn is a “bonafide religious cemetery” that honors the lives of community leaders and civil rights pioneers. Among them are the Rev. Edgar Amos Love, a founding father of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity; Lillie Mae Carroll Jackson, a civil rights trailblazer and longtime president of the Baltimore NAACP; John Henry Murphy, founder of The Afro-American Newspaper; Dr. Nellie Louise Young, Maryland’s first African-American female physician; and Joseph Gans, the first Black lightweight boxing champion. Their legacies, along with those of many others interred here, stand as powerful reminders of resilience, achievement and the ongoing need to protect these sacred spaces.
Visitors to Mount Auburn Cemetery have expressed concern over the condition of the grounds, however, leaving comments on the cemetery’s website such as: “The people left in charge of the grounds otta be ashamed of themselves.”
Another visitor, searching for family members, shared their frustration: “Been looking for my relatives for the past 7 yrs.”
But while there has been public outcry for declining conditions at Mount Auburn, such is not the case with the Laurel Cemetery once located on Belair Road in East Baltimore. After perpetual disrepair and reckless abandon, the cemetery was condemned and sold for nonpayment of taxes for $100.
“I visited Mount Auburn for the first time and it was challenging because Laurel Cemetery is different when you go to the site,” explained Elgin Klugh, associate professor in the Department of Applied Social and Political Sciences at Coppin State University, and chairman of the Laurel Cemetery Memorial Project taskforce. “It’s a shopping center, so it’s not emotional, but Mount Auburn, you go there and see the condition of the graves and it leaves you feeling a different way.”
Taskforce members of the Laurel Cemetery Memorial Project in Baltimore have worked endlessly to salvage the memory of “thousands of African Americans” interred at the forgotten burial site. Their mission is “to educate the public about the rich history of the cemetery” and give “recognition” to the trailblazers and others that were buried there.
Klugh said the taskforce teamed up with the Baltimore Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society and is working with the Baltimore City Archives and the Maryland State Archives to research Baltimore City death certificates to identify those at the cemetery. They have documented over 20,000 burials and estimate that there might be up to 20,000 more.
“Only a few hundred were ever said to have been moved,” Klugh said.
One of the most important and interesting parts of the journey for him has been learning about the individuals and what they did in Baltimore. He shared that some of the most influential clergy of the 19th century and elite members of the Black community were buried at the cemetery.
To name a few: Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne, religious leader, educator, college administrator, author, a major shaper of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and founder of Wilberforce University in Ohio; Francis Marion Wood, former director of Baltimore City Colored Schools; and the Rev. Dr. Harvey Johnson, pastor of Baltimore’s Union Baptist Church for more than 50 years.
Evelyn Chatmon, co-chair of the Archives and Artifacts Ministry of Union Baptist Church in Baltimore, recalled that Rev. Johnson was “famous.” She remembers the late Rev. Vernon Nathaniel Dobson, pastor of Union Baptist Church for almost 40 years, being angry and upset and trying to stop the excavation of the graves at Laurel Cemetery.
“My understanding is they pulled up coffins and put them in a dump truck and then moved them out to Carroll County,” Chatmon said. “But there was no effort to rebury them as they had been excavated. Where Harvey Johnson is–who knows? For all we know he may be still out there on Belair Road.”
“A Place for Memory: Baltimore’s Historic Laurel Cemetery” details the history of the cemetery, its intentional destruction for commercial purposes, the questionable actions by the city, state and judiciary that lead to the destruction of the cemetery, the NAACP’s efforts to save the property and information regarding the people buried there.
The Laurel Cemetery Memorial Taskforce was organized to tell the story and create a memorial for the approximately 42,000 African Americans who remain buried under the shopping center on the site.
Volunteers are needed to assist with this significant project. Contact: Elgin Klugh, elginklugh@gmail.com, or check out the website, https://laurelcemetery.omeka.net/.