In Taylor, a historic act of recognition unfolded this weekend as the city, along with The Taylor Conservation and Heritage Society and local residents, came together at the Taylor City Cemetery to honor the previously unmarked graves of its Black citizens, reported FOX7 Austin. The cemetery, displaying thousands of gravestones near the entrance, had a significantly bare section towards the back, which was once a segregated burial ground for the Black community and now has been designated the Historic African American Burial Section.
Leslie Mae Washington Hill, president of the Welfare Workers Club, expressed her sentiment in a FOX7 Austin interview, "I want people to know where we came from", this statement underscores the importance of visibility and remembrance, while a new monument, placed among the approximately 750 graves now ensures there's acknowledgment where headstones were once absent. Hill further remarked, "I feel like we are finally coming to know how to love each other", reflecting on the communal healing that the event symbolized.
City Councilmember Gerald Anderson, whose ancestors rest within this burial ground, shared his reflection with Yahoo News, "Well over 100 years ago that my family has been buried here as well," revealing a personal connection to the site and celebrating the recognition of these individual's existence. Anderson emphasized the importance of this recognition, "I think people being seen and being recognized goes a long way in this life and the next life and the afterlife, you know, just for the family to have some closure by being able to come out and remember their loved ones and seeing where they are, being able to find their grave and say their goodbye that some people never got to say."
Commemorating those without physical markers, a new tool introduced by the cemetery allows individuals to locate their loved one's final resting places, ensuring that each person's memory is accessible, and according to Gerald Anderson in his interview with Yahoo News, "They say the dead don’t rest until they have a marker, and so I think a lot of people here finally found some peace, the families found some peace." For further information on the graves or to utilize the "Grave Location App," visit the Taylor City Cemetery’s website and click on "Search Cemetery Records".
