GOSPEL PILGRIM CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1882

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery is located in Athens, Georgia. The cemetery was founded 1882 by the Gospel Pilgrim Society, a Black benevolent organization, “to see to it that that deceased among their number, as well as all others of their race, not otherwise provided for, are properly and decently interred.” Over the course of its one-hundred-and twenty-one-year history, around 3,500 African Americans were buried in the cemetery (approximately twenty to twenty-five percent of those were formerly enslaved individuals). Most were interred during the cemetery’s heyday in the 1930s and 1940s, but many prominent Black Athenians from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are buried at Gospel Pilgrim: Monroe Bowers “Pink” Morton was born a slave in 1856, but rose to become a wealthy Athenian and the owner of the Morton Theatre; Harriet Powers was a famous folk artist and quilter; Madison Davis went from slavery to the Georgia Legislature in 1868; and Ellen Green was a local resident who became a dean at Fisk University. Gradually, the cemetery fell into disarray and, after 1960, fewer and fewer people were laid to rest within its geographic bounds. In 1977, the last surviving member of the Gospel Pilgrim Society died of a heart attack. No long-term arrangement had been made for the cemetery's perpetual care, and it now has no legal owner. While nature as reclaimed the landscape, student and community groups sponsor occasional work-days to remove weeds, clear fallen branches, and pick-up trash. The last burials occurred in the early 2000s.

BCN Contact Information:

Tracy Barnett

tracy.barnett@uga.edu

BROOKLYN CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1882

ADDITONAL NAMES: Bethlehem Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S):

• Historic Athens

• Morton Theatre Corporation

HISTORY:

Established in 1882, the Brooklyn Cemetery (http://www.brooklyncemetery.org/)—founded by the Bethlehem Cemetery Society—was one of the first African American cemeteries in Athens, Georgia. Located on the western side of Athens, the cemetery served as a final resting place for many African Americans from Athens and surrounding communities. The people buried there were largely working class—tradespeople of the period, farmers, preachers, teachers, and professionals in the service industry.

Known burials include 54 documented veterans of the Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the Korean War. Several historic African American churches used the cemetery, including Hill First Baptist Church (the oldest African American Baptist church in Athens, Georgia; Mount Pleasant Baptist Church (established in 1869), First A.M.E. (the oldest African American church in Athens, established as Pierce Chapel in 1866) and Hill Chapel Baptist Church (established in 1924). Three long-standing Athens funeral homes, Hurley, Mack and Payne, and Jackson-McWhorter also had designated areas in the cemetery.

The nearly 10-acre site has been the subject of restoration and preservation efforts for nearly 20 years, roughly three decades after the cemetery began to fall into disrepair. Although many of the temporary grave markers have been lost, some remain standing—strong and visible, while remnants of others remain. Volunteers have unearthed old, weathered stones and other artifacts, cleared away tons of debris, and documented roughly 1,000 known burials, with the last one occurring in 1993. The Brooklyn Cemetery is owned by the Bethlehem Cemetery Society.

BCN Contact Information:

Kimberly Davis

info@brooklyncemetery.org

https://www.historicathens.com/