Clad in wide-brimmed hats and neon vests, faith leaders and volunteers gathered Saturday morning at People’s Burial Park.
Many lathered on sunscreen to protect against the sweltering June sun. Others compared cemetery maps and crowded under what shade was provided by tents and nearby trees.
All shared the same mission: to preserve African American history.
More than 70 volunteers participated in the Digging for Dignity project, a Juneteenth effort aimed at digitally mapping People’s Burial Park, a historic African American cemetery in Haltom City. The effort, led by religious and community leaders, helped families reconnect to their history and with relatives whose graves have been difficult — and in some cases impossible — to locate for decades.
Brandon C. Ellison, president of the Fort Worth stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said the continual effort is vital to secure a record and a connection to the community’s history.
“We believe that being connected to our ancestors and understanding who they are helps us to be stronger in the present, to have a better sense of our situation today, and links us not only to them but also to the future,” Ellison said.
Volunteers and community members rally to begin their work after the opening remarks June 20, at People’s Burial Park in Haltom City. (Joseph Morgan | Fort Worth Report)
For Rod Samuel, a disabled veteran and deacon at Fort Worth’s True Love Sanctuary Christ Holy Sanctified Church, the mission was already personal.
While helping with regular maintenance work at the cemetery before Saturday’s event, Samuel noticed what appeared to be the corner of a headstone sticking up from the earth. Curiosity led him to investigate.
“As I started to dig, I was able to see what it was,” Samuel said. “When I brought it up, I felt the connection.”
The headstone of World War I veteran Wesley Williams sits at People’s Burial Park on June 20 after being uncovered by volunteer Rod Samuel during cemetery maintenance. (Joseph Morgan | Fort Worth Report)
The marker belonged to a World War I veteran.
Samuel eventually found two additional veteran markers that were buried in the overgrowth and lost to time. Still, that first discovery stayed with him.
“Me being a veteran myself, it was overwhelming,” Samuel said of the experience. “It was love and compassion and gratefulness. Everything that is God hit me all at once.”
The project traces its roots to when Pastor Kyev Tatum of New Mount Rose Baptist Church in Fort Worth visited the cemetery last summer searching for a grave of a member of the famed all-Black 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion active during World War II.
After searching for hours, what he found was a cemetery treacherous for families to navigate.
“My heart bled,” Tatum said. “I saw our history in this kind of decay.”
For decades, large portions of the cemetery had become overgrown, making grave markers nearly impossible to locate, Tatum said.
Recent restoration efforts have cleared much of the overgrowth away, setting the stage for the next challenge: creating a complete digital record of all those buried.
Digging for Dignity will be an ongoing effort in the months ahead, Tatum said. He hopes the project will eventually help descendants locate loved ones they have not been able to find for years.
Tatum believes the cemetery’s value extends far beyond the names carved into stone.
“This is the richest place,” he said. “It has all of our histories.”
After the singing of hymns and a prayer to set off the work, volunteers fanned out across the historic burial grounds each with assigned sections of graves to record.
The work was orderly and methodical, and brought together a diverse coalition of community groups, churches and genealogy enthusiasts.
Stephanie Perkins, a volunteer with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, clears dirt and grass from a partially buried grave marker at People’s Burial Park on June 20. (Joseph Morgan | Fort Worth Report)
Volunteers spread across People’s Burial Park on June 20 to photograph headstones, verify records and upload GPS coordinates using the Find a Grave app. (Joseph Morgan Fort Worth Report)
Carma Miller, a volunteer with the Church of Jesus Christ, said the work carries special significance given that so much of African American family history has been lost or fragmented through generations.
“Now people will have a searchable way to find their ancestry,” Miller said. “It will help bring our people back together.”
Throughout the day, volunteers shared stories about family history while others learned how to use genealogy tools and online databases like the Find a Grave app.
As volunteers moved between rows of graves, some searching for strangers and others searching for family, a belief of shared history guided the work.
The project’s slogan was repeated throughout the morning: “Reclaim the names of our ancestors’ remains.”
For Samuel, the work is ultimately about ensuring those names are not lost again.
“If I had to do this every day, I’d feel good doing it,” he said.
Joseph Morgan is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at joseph.morgan@fortworthreport.org.
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