Days after archaeologists on Maryland’s
eastern shore uncovered what they believe to be the oldest settlement
of African-Americans in the United States, another team in Philadelphia
unearthed what may be the resting place of nearly 3,000 others under a
playground in the city’s Weccecoe Park.
Underneath the swing sets of an urban playground in the Queen Village neighborhood of South Philadelphia are the forgotten remains of an estimated 3,000 African-Americans. Historian Terry Buckalew accidentally stumbled on a mention of the cemetery while researching the 19th century civil rights activist Octavius Catto for a documentary film project. He found a record of family members of Catto’s fiancé buried in something called Bethel Burying Ground, a site he had never heard of.
Buckalew set about gathering as much information as he could, coming up with almost 1,500 names of the interred (and counting), estimating another 1,500 names are still out there. He intended to make all the information publicly accessible on genealogical databases, so African-Americans would be able to track their lineage.
That all changed when the city announced plans to renovate the playground, involving new trees and underground utility lines. Buckalew got in touch with the church, members of the City Council, and neighborhood civic groups to present his research and urge action to preserve the graves.
The team of archaeologists broke the
asphalt in four places at Weccecoe Park, digging to a depth of 3 feet to
uncover evidence of the 19th century burial site. On Thursday, Douglas
Mooney, senior archaeologist for URS Corporation and his colleagues dug
up a single white gravestone belonging to 26-year-old. “Amelia Brown,
1819, Aged 26 years” is clearly carved into the white stone, with this
epitaph: “Whosoever lives and believeth in me, though we be dead, yet
shall we live.”
“There is no grave shaft associated with that stone, it’s just
sitting loose in the fill,” said Mooney. “It was knocked over at some
point, long ago, when the cemetery was filled in the mid-19th century.
It no longer marks an actual grave. It’s just a loose stone in the
ground.” Brown, who was likely a member of the Mother Bethel A.M.E.
Church, bought the burial site as a private cemetery in 1810 and used it
as such until 1864.
Mother Bethel is the oldest African-American church in the country, researchers say. During the late 18th century, cemeteries within Philadelphia’s city limits would not accept black people, which prompted the congregation to purchase the plot near Fourth and Queen Streets.
Also at the time, the property near Fourth and Queen Streets was not within Philadelphia city limits, so Mother Bethel A.M.E. bought it as a private cemetery in 1810 and used it as such until 1864. Then the property languished, was abandoned, was used as a dump. In 1888, the property was sold to the city to pay for a new church that’s still in use today.
The site lay vacant a few more years until the city developed a playground on it. By then the memory of the dead had faded smooth. Mother Bethel Church left nothing behind to mark the burial site.
“It gives us a chance to really do right,” said Rev. Mark Tyler, the current head of Mother Bethel A.M.E. “Unfortunately, like a lot of churches that start cemeteries — because of the pressing financial issues of keeping a church going — it ran on really hard times. It’s not one of our shining examples that we’re proud of. This gives us a chance to redo history a second time.”
Underneath the swing sets of an urban playground in the Queen Village neighborhood of South Philadelphia are the forgotten remains of an estimated 3,000 African-Americans. Historian Terry Buckalew accidentally stumbled on a mention of the cemetery while researching the 19th century civil rights activist Octavius Catto for a documentary film project. He found a record of family members of Catto’s fiancé buried in something called Bethel Burying Ground, a site he had never heard of.
Buckalew set about gathering as much information as he could, coming up with almost 1,500 names of the interred (and counting), estimating another 1,500 names are still out there. He intended to make all the information publicly accessible on genealogical databases, so African-Americans would be able to track their lineage.
That all changed when the city announced plans to renovate the playground, involving new trees and underground utility lines. Buckalew got in touch with the church, members of the City Council, and neighborhood civic groups to present his research and urge action to preserve the graves.
The team of archaeologists broke the
asphalt in four places at Weccecoe Park, digging to a depth of 3 feet to
uncover evidence of the 19th century burial site. On Thursday, Douglas
Mooney, senior archaeologist for URS Corporation and his colleagues dug
up a single white gravestone belonging to 26-year-old. “Amelia Brown,
1819, Aged 26 years” is clearly carved into the white stone, with this
epitaph: “Whosoever lives and believeth in me, though we be dead, yet
shall we live.”Mother Bethel is the oldest African-American church in the country, researchers say. During the late 18th century, cemeteries within Philadelphia’s city limits would not accept black people, which prompted the congregation to purchase the plot near Fourth and Queen Streets.
Also at the time, the property near Fourth and Queen Streets was not within Philadelphia city limits, so Mother Bethel A.M.E. bought it as a private cemetery in 1810 and used it as such until 1864. Then the property languished, was abandoned, was used as a dump. In 1888, the property was sold to the city to pay for a new church that’s still in use today.
The site lay vacant a few more years until the city developed a playground on it. By then the memory of the dead had faded smooth. Mother Bethel Church left nothing behind to mark the burial site.
“It gives us a chance to really do right,” said Rev. Mark Tyler, the current head of Mother Bethel A.M.E. “Unfortunately, like a lot of churches that start cemeteries — because of the pressing financial issues of keeping a church going — it ran on really hard times. It’s not one of our shining examples that we’re proud of. This gives us a chance to redo history a second time.”
This week’s archaeological dig was to
determine what exactly is under the asphalt, and where. Next, all
parties will set about devising a plan to properly remember what lies
beneath.
Mooney and his team found evidence of many grave shafts, and stone walls representing the border of the cemetery. They have been digging to determine exactly where the cemetery limits are, and how far down. The team stopped digging several feet shy of where actual bones could be. “It should leave a nice buffer that will ensure the cemetery will not be disturbed,” said Mooney.
Mooney and his team found evidence of many grave shafts, and stone walls representing the border of the cemetery. They have been digging to determine exactly where the cemetery limits are, and how far down. The team stopped digging several feet shy of where actual bones could be. “It should leave a nice buffer that will ensure the cemetery will not be disturbed,” said Mooney.
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