Not sure anyone will actually read this...posted so late as it is. BUT but I've always wondered -- aside from the very fleeting acknowledgement of wrong doing by the mostly-still-clueless-of-what-was-done descendants of the "doers" who can do little or nothing to rectify a decades/centuries old wrong -- what real/actual "good" is done by digging up the past and waving it under the noses of those who were NOT responsible for the wrong that was done. And I've also wondered why no one in Germany and the world saw/anticipated that the final outcome (the one we are living in now) of the long, loud and very public chastisement of GERMANS (the guilt tripping) , most of whom were powerless to do anything to rein in the Third Reich's evils, would lead to. I'm not talking just about the backlash from the guilt-tripping/blame that resulted in the NeoNazism in Germany that spread outward from there. I'm talking about punishing people for something they could not do anything about (without also endangering themselves, their families, their friends....everyone they knew). That kind of "justice" (and the arbitrary creating of several nation states) helped set the world stage for where we are now.
Such an important writing! I will share this. It is such a comfort to know that we are beginning to recover and tell the truth in this country. I am late in reading this post. It makes me wonder what will happen to the people taken hostage, murdered, and killed this week in Israel and The Gaza strip. What happens to the bodies of all nations buried under rubble from missile strikes? What about the unidentified ones?
I, too, love history and I found your piece to be extremely thought-provoking. I am so glad the story of the Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery had a happy ending. Reading the comments of others about other efforts to restore burial places of those whom the “powerful” are trying “bury” permanently gives me a ray of hope. Thank you, Diana, and all who commented.
Thank you, Diana, for mentioning the angel statue. I was born in a DC hospital in 1944, and was brought home to an apartment house on S Washington St. I remember walking down to the banks of the Potomac for picnics with my mother. We passed St. Mary’s often & that angel became an object of great comfort to me. What a wonderful step back in time to see her again! I hope to return soon to see the statue across the street that seems to complete her mission!
On our way to and from Minnesota to take care of the last bits of my dad’s estate and bring home boxes of photo albums and some furniture, we listened to the audiobook “Africatown” about the last slave ship that came to America and the community of freed slaves who built a small town on Mobile Bay. The cemetery is in threat of being torn up to build a larger bridge over the water... Denise lived in Mobile for almost thirty-years and much of the early story was new to her. As a Minnesotan, I had never heard of this chapter in our history about the “Clotilda” and Africatown. Your words resonate with me as we consider how we can be a part of the preservation effort here.
I am in Berlin. This city has memorials everywhere. There are “stumbling stones” that mark where someone once lived before the Nazis took them and what happened to the person.
There is a memorial to the Jews murdered by the Nazis.
Memorials to the disabled, gay people and Parliament members killed.
And of course memorials to those lost in a divided Germany and Berlin
They carry their history forward to a new and better place
Great article! I forwarded this to my sister, who lived in Alexandria, VA for a few years. Her nephew was involved in the final design of this gravesite (Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery). He said that besides the statue, there are memorial walls that list the people buried there; and that there's a link to the surviving families.
Yes, there is. The wall is actually built in the shell of the old gas station. The whole thing is very moving. I just love the statue - the way it echoes the angel across the street.
While leading a service of burial near Rose Hill, NC, I was told by a native resident that the area where our cars were parked was the area of slave burial. Racism was alive and well. I felt the prejudice when a member of my church stopped attending after I invited an official of the denomination to speak from my pulpit. The official was African American. My next surprise while living in that community happened not there but, in a county north of the capitol. A black cemetery beside a church was filled with graves and almost no markers. I was searching for ancestors. The Baptist church where my Civil War ancestor is buried once had a slave gallery. The church took out that memory and lost the record book which was found in a university library. I delivered a copy to that church so that the names of the slaves could be seen and honored. There is no record of where those slaves are buried.
Diana, this post really hit home with me today. I live very near Savannah GA. Alderwoman Alicia Miller Blakely is trying to stop construction of a school on the site of a historical black cemetery in Savannah. I am forwarding her your post. I hope she is able to use it to continue to encourage and guide her in this battle for justice for African Americans. Thank you!
Thankyou for that."Here today and gone tomorow", respecting the disposal of the remains reminds me of the land of my birth the UK , nary a patch not covering the blood and violence of history.
As we are all equal units of consciousness it does not matter, after the millions of years preceding in the galaxy now on this planet forming a New Age for the future.
"The way we treat the dead often reveals how we treated people in life. The casual disregard, the purposeful desecration, and commercial destruction of human remains proves what African Americans have long insisted — Black bodies don’t matter. Not at birth, not in childhood, not at work, not in full citizenship, and not at death. And certainly not in history."
So succinct. And heartbreaking.
I'm glad to read that the cemetery has been reclaimed as holy ground, memorializing those who deserve to be remembered and pricking our conscience.
Not sure anyone will actually read this...posted so late as it is. BUT but I've always wondered -- aside from the very fleeting acknowledgement of wrong doing by the mostly-still-clueless-of-what-was-done descendants of the "doers" who can do little or nothing to rectify a decades/centuries old wrong -- what real/actual "good" is done by digging up the past and waving it under the noses of those who were NOT responsible for the wrong that was done. And I've also wondered why no one in Germany and the world saw/anticipated that the final outcome (the one we are living in now) of the long, loud and very public chastisement of GERMANS (the guilt tripping) , most of whom were powerless to do anything to rein in the Third Reich's evils, would lead to. I'm not talking just about the backlash from the guilt-tripping/blame that resulted in the NeoNazism in Germany that spread outward from there. I'm talking about punishing people for something they could not do anything about (without also endangering themselves, their families, their friends....everyone they knew). That kind of "justice" (and the arbitrary creating of several nation states) helped set the world stage for where we are now.
Such an important writing! I will share this. It is such a comfort to know that we are beginning to recover and tell the truth in this country. I am late in reading this post. It makes me wonder what will happen to the people taken hostage, murdered, and killed this week in Israel and The Gaza strip. What happens to the bodies of all nations buried under rubble from missile strikes? What about the unidentified ones?
I, too, love history and I found your piece to be extremely thought-provoking. I am so glad the story of the Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery had a happy ending. Reading the comments of others about other efforts to restore burial places of those whom the “powerful” are trying “bury” permanently gives me a ray of hope. Thank you, Diana, and all who commented.
Thank you, Diana, for mentioning the angel statue. I was born in a DC hospital in 1944, and was brought home to an apartment house on S Washington St. I remember walking down to the banks of the Potomac for picnics with my mother. We passed St. Mary’s often & that angel became an object of great comfort to me. What a wonderful step back in time to see her again! I hope to return soon to see the statue across the street that seems to complete her mission!
On our way to and from Minnesota to take care of the last bits of my dad’s estate and bring home boxes of photo albums and some furniture, we listened to the audiobook “Africatown” about the last slave ship that came to America and the community of freed slaves who built a small town on Mobile Bay. The cemetery is in threat of being torn up to build a larger bridge over the water... Denise lived in Mobile for almost thirty-years and much of the early story was new to her. As a Minnesotan, I had never heard of this chapter in our history about the “Clotilda” and Africatown. Your words resonate with me as we consider how we can be a part of the preservation effort here.
Check out Michael Hillegas at Christ Church cemetery. 1st Treasurer of US.
Possible relative!
I am in Berlin. This city has memorials everywhere. There are “stumbling stones” that mark where someone once lived before the Nazis took them and what happened to the person.
There is a memorial to the Jews murdered by the Nazis.
Memorials to the disabled, gay people and Parliament members killed.
And of course memorials to those lost in a divided Germany and Berlin
They carry their history forward to a new and better place
Great article! I forwarded this to my sister, who lived in Alexandria, VA for a few years. Her nephew was involved in the final design of this gravesite (Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery). He said that besides the statue, there are memorial walls that list the people buried there; and that there's a link to the surviving families.
Yes, there is. The wall is actually built in the shell of the old gas station. The whole thing is very moving. I just love the statue - the way it echoes the angel across the street.
PROFOUND 👋🙏🫶🏻🩵
While leading a service of burial near Rose Hill, NC, I was told by a native resident that the area where our cars were parked was the area of slave burial. Racism was alive and well. I felt the prejudice when a member of my church stopped attending after I invited an official of the denomination to speak from my pulpit. The official was African American. My next surprise while living in that community happened not there but, in a county north of the capitol. A black cemetery beside a church was filled with graves and almost no markers. I was searching for ancestors. The Baptist church where my Civil War ancestor is buried once had a slave gallery. The church took out that memory and lost the record book which was found in a university library. I delivered a copy to that church so that the names of the slaves could be seen and honored. There is no record of where those slaves are buried.
Diana, this post really hit home with me today. I live very near Savannah GA. Alderwoman Alicia Miller Blakely is trying to stop construction of a school on the site of a historical black cemetery in Savannah. I am forwarding her your post. I hope she is able to use it to continue to encourage and guide her in this battle for justice for African Americans. Thank you!
I was deeply moved, Diana. Thank you for the hope I feel.
Thankyou for that."Here today and gone tomorow", respecting the disposal of the remains reminds me of the land of my birth the UK , nary a patch not covering the blood and violence of history.
As we are all equal units of consciousness it does not matter, after the millions of years preceding in the galaxy now on this planet forming a New Age for the future.
Love old cemeteries and the history they contain that is so often forgotten and trampled underfoot. Thank you for your meditation.
"It's about living with deep honesty." Amen.
"The way we treat the dead often reveals how we treated people in life. The casual disregard, the purposeful desecration, and commercial destruction of human remains proves what African Americans have long insisted — Black bodies don’t matter. Not at birth, not in childhood, not at work, not in full citizenship, and not at death. And certainly not in history."
So succinct. And heartbreaking.
I'm glad to read that the cemetery has been reclaimed as holy ground, memorializing those who deserve to be remembered and pricking our conscience.