“African American history is American history,” says Natalie Bell, a volunteer forging her path to preserve and teach history. Many African-American stories have yet to be discovered and told. Throughout history, African-American cemeteries have too often been neglected, mismanaged, and forgotten.
Many African American graves were not formally marked, due to the expense of purchasing a gravestone. Instead, a piece of pottery might be used to mark the loved one’s grave, leaving the site vulnerable to being lost. African American graves and sometimes entire cemeteries – particularly family cemeteries in rural areas – were lost. [READ MORE]