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SPECIAL REPORT: Reviving Black cemeteries in East Texas

Larry Wade said there could be 50 or more abandoned Black cemeteries in East Texas alone.

TYLER, Texas — A group of East Texans is working to uncover a part of history that has been buried for years. 

They’re going to African American cemeteries to retrace lines of heritage, to draw a line from the distant past to today.

Nestled under these pine trees and hidden behind Nottingham Lane near Chapel Hill lie dozens of graves – forgotten names and burial plots in Universe Cemetery.

"We have a whole list of them. And the list is growing of abandoned black cemeteries in this area," said Larry Wade, founder of the National African American Historical Society.

Wade said there could be 50 or more abandoned Black cemeteries in East Texas, alone, with many more scattered across the state.

"We want to preserve history, and it’s important we remember our ancestor," Wade said. "Often times as the older people have passed off the scene, the younger generation don’t know where their ancestors are buried." 

That's why a little over two years ago, Wade took it upon himself, with other volunteers, to restore and revive history.

"We want to clean it up and reinstall a sense of pride in our Black community of who is buried here," Wade said. 

Among the volunteers is Tyler Councilwoman Dr. Shirley McKellar, who said keeping that sense of pride is important so it doesn’t get buried.

"If they’re not taken care of, then sometimes they’re used to build on top of," McKellar said. "We found out across America that areas have been developed and they didn’t realize that there were graves underneath."

As was the case in Florida, where a Black cemetery was said to be moved back in 1950s only to find out decades later, hundreds of graves were paved over.

"We want to make sure that doesn’t happen in our community. And the fact that we have some very important people buried in these cemeteries," McKellar said. 

Those important people include W. A. Peete, the namesake of Tyler ISD's Peete Elementary.

"'W. A. Peete was a great educator. His students called him ‘Old Hickory,'" Wade said. 

And it was those same students who were responsible for reconstructing his tombstone – just like many others, over 300 to be exact, that are buried at Universe Cemetery.

"We have Miles Anderson, who was an All-American running back who went to Texas College. We have World War I and two veterans; we have former slaves," Wade said.

Dating back to the 1800s, stones mark where family members and others have been buried. Some are unrecognizable through the elements of time.

"There’s probably many, many more than that and many, many more graves than we know of because they just didn’t have tombstones," said history magazine editor Vicki Betts. 

Betts is a former librarian and now editor of history magazine, "Chronicles of Smith County, Texas." She and Wade have worked closely to find out more about the people who are buried here.

Among them is cemetery founder Benjamin Goss.

"He was a slave here in Smith County, and in fact even during the Civil War, he was running a Sunday school class for the enslaved out of Bascom Methodist Church, which is still in operation today," Betts said. 

It’s time consuming work digging up stones.

"We only know where the stones are, whether their native stones, there’s a whole rectangle of native stones there," Betts said. "There’s a grave there. I don’t know who’s there." 

But it's rewarding for volunteers like Betts and these historians need your help too.

"A garden tool, rakes, shovels, power saws, trimmers – whatever is necessary. We need donations from our community," Wade said. 

If you would like to help in the cleaning and restoration of these cemeteries, you can reach out to Wade with his contact information below: 

National African American Historical Society

P.O. Box 8090

Tyler, Texas 75711

(903) 452 - 3310
larryjoy04@yahoo.com 

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