Next to interstates...in the middle of neighborhoods...in the woods...
Historic African American cemeteries have been found anywhere and everywhere in the present world. In Hampton Roads, the people who know they exist are often forced to take it upon themselves to ensure that existence continues, despite decades or more of neglect.
“In this region, most of the African American cemeteries are no longer existing. If they are existing, they’re unknown," said Charles Johnson, President of the African American Historical Society of Portsmouth and area historian.
This month, News 3 looked into efforts to restore and preserve three area Black cemeteries, either known, or still being rediscovered.
Mt. Olive Cemetery — Portsmouth
At Mt. Olive Cemetery, Johnson picks up an old conch shell at one of the gravesites; a symbol of African American history that goes back 400 years.
“You’re hearing the waves of your ancestors who came from Africa," he said. "You can hear where you came from.”
The shell is at his family's plot in the cemetery. Johnson's great-grandfather, great-grandmother and a number of others are buried there.
Graves at Mt. Olive date back to 1879, Johnson tells News 3, and they're among the oldest in the massive Mt. Calvary complex wedged between Deep Creek Boulevard and I-264.
Many of the gravestones are broken and sinking into the wet ground that often floods. Johnson and the rest of the African American Historical Society of Portsmouth have made it their mission to preserve the historical site...and it's a big job.
“An estimated 12,000 people are buried [at Mt. Calvary]," he said, adding that many in the oldest parts of the cemetery were born early enough that they spent time enslaved.
Though, even in death, Johnson says they weren't entirely free.
“[The cemetery is] here because of segregation. There was no place for African Americans to be buried," he told News 3.
The land they were allowed to purchase was often of little-to-no value, Johnson says, which would explain the frequent flooding, which forced the halting of burials decades ago.
But there is progress. Johnson says the city of Portsmouth has taken ownership.
“They now will maintain the area; the grass, the trees, so forth. They do not maintain the plot because those are private," he said. ”We reached out to the federal government asking if we could get new stones of the military personnel.”
Johnson counts 55 new stones at veterans' graves, but the work continues and will likely never stop.
“Preservation to us is about consistency," he said.
Newsome Farm Cemetery — Virginia Beach (Newtown)
While Mt. Olive is part of a larger cemetery complex and easy to spot, other historic African American cemeteries are hidden in plain sight, so to speak.
In the Newsome Farm neighborhood in the Newtown area of Virginia Beach, you might miss the graves in a small wooded area surrounded by homes. Linda Carrington was surprised to see them when she moved here in the mid-1990s.
“I used to come by here and I was like, ‘Oh my God, it looks so bad,'" she told News 3 at the site off Daniel Smith Road.
Carrington is currently Vice President of the Newsome Farm Civic League. News 3 met her and her President, Harry Kirkley, two years ago over their efforts to fix up the property.
The mission continues in 2024.
Carrington and Kirkley recently met News 3 at the site where they said the work to keep the area clean is continuous, mainly because no one officially owns the cemetery, according to city documents. The documents also reveal the land was originally purchased by former slaves in the late 1960s, with the cemetery first appearing in records not long after that.
“We launched a program, a springtime program, in April, to do a mass cleanup. All volunteers come along to help us pick up the limbs and the leaves," said Kirkley.
Carrington says it's important for the aesthetics of the neighborhood, but more so for the people who are buried there.
“This is their resting place and I just wanted it to be… the grass cut, a little bit of flowers on it. Last summer, I came and put flowers on every grave," she said.
But now, they're looking to add something more permanent.
Carrington says the cemetery will likely be the first stop of a future history tour from the Virginia African American Cultural Center to be built down the street and they're looking to put in a sign to mark the location.
First, Kirkley says, the civic league had to get a ground scan to locate all the graves. He says he knew of 66, but the results of the scan with News 3 may reveal more.
“Some of them we didn’t know were there," he said. “Now with this, we got a possibility of more than 66.”
News 3 reached out to the city of Virginia Beach inquiring about the cemetery and how the city might help restore it. We received this statement from Historic Preservation Planner Mark Reed:
"The Virginia Beach Historic Preservation Commission has been working with the Newsome Farm Civic League to recognize the historic nature of the cemetery. The Virginia Department of Historic Resources has provided an opinion that Newsome Farm Cemetery is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Such listing cannot be completed without consent of an owner with title to the property. The Commission has also been assessing the preservation needs of the cemetery and treatment options as part of their process to collect information."
Saints Rest Cemetery — Virginia Beach (Seatack)
Several miles to the east, a Virginia Beach church is hoping to nail down a date for a radar scan of its own cemetery.
At the end of Beautiful Street in the historic African American community of Seatack, sits a cemetery called Saints Rest.
The land was purchased by nearby St. Stephen's Church of God in Christ in the 1940s. Trees cleared out were used to help build the church, according to Pastor Bruce Hughes.
Burials began shortly after, with headstones going right up to the existing tree line, but are there graves within the trees too? A company called Sentry Mapping is coming in to help find out.
"(We're having) a contractor to come out with GPS and identify if there are any unmarked graves," said Delvery Davis, an elder with the church, who's managing the project to restore the cemetery.
Those possible unmarked graves, and the potential to disturb them, were part of a fight against a proposed battery facility just last year.
However, these days, the focus has returned to restoration, with Pastor Hughes leading the charge. After all, he has several family members buried in the cemetery, including his parents and sister.
“(It was) an affordable place for our church members to be buried, along with, the location was convenient for everyone so it’s important for us to maintain and keep the history going," Hughes told News 3 during a visit to the site.
But it's a massive undertaking that will take several steps, of which identifying all the graves is just one part.
Similar to Mt. Olive in Portsmouth, the land at Saints Rest retains water. Here, the ground is marshy and a wetland is just feet away, leading to sunken graves and crumbling headstones.
Burials are also no longer allowed.
Davis says the project to repair and preserve the cemetery will take years, and he welcomes the help of others at the church and descendants of those buried there. He says he's committed to making this cemetery on Beautiful Street worthy of its name.
“Think of the name. Saints Rest. That means that it draws you closer to the Lord," said Davis. "I want you to be able to enter into his rest in a peaceful place that, while you’re alive, you can see all the renovation.”
Hughes says restoring the property would be a great honor.
“I’d probably be the happiest man on earth," he told News 3.
At these African American cemeteries, there are countless stories waiting to be uncovered. According to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, there isn't a state database of cemeteries, but some are included on a list of historic African American sites.
The efforts to restore these final resting locations remain in the hands of descendants and others with a passion to preserve the past.
