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Evergreen gets more helping hands

Members of Upsilon Nu Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. recently spent a day helping to restore a section of Evergreen Cemetery. Fraternity members, along with friends and family, cleared an area of the burial ground in an effort to restore some dignity to this site. Chapter members have committed to improving the appearance of this cemetery, as a tribute to the various luminaries and other African Americans, many of whom were former slaves.

Fraternity members Jeff Tarpley and Eric Monroe

Jeff Tarpley and Eric Monoroe

9 comments

Dunn 08/09/2011 at 10:28 PM

Always proud to see my Brothers making a difference in our community. If they are not providing community service they are raising scholarship money for deserving college students. I salute the men if the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

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JessOfRVA 08/10/2011 at 1:00 AM

This is phenomenal! Good job!

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Right on Broad 08/10/2011 at 7:37 PM

This is a titanic task, but thanks to the folks who work (especially in this weather) to restore some sense of dignity to this place.

How come nobody beefed about Evergreen after raising so much attention to the Burial Ground For Negros?

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John M 08/10/2011 at 8:19 PM

Evergreen comes up over and over again.

Two differences are that Evergreen is privately owned, and is still essentially a graveyard.

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Right on Broad 08/11/2011 at 7:35 AM

John, I understand the difference in ownership, but the people buried in Evergreen weren’t put there that long ago. In many cases, their families are still in Richmond. Why didn’t anybody care that the cemetery went to seed? A few plots are still maintained by family – why is this so rarely done? Above all, where is the outrage? Even the modern burials are a disgrace, with what little mowing exploding the temporary funeral home markers that instantly turn it into an unmarked grave.

If you look at the modern section of Evergreen on Google Earth, you see that the present owner is filling up that open field, grave by grave, from one end to the other. Areas that look unoccupied are shown from the air as simply being row after row of unmarked graves. He (or she) is spending almost nothing on mowing and I’ll bet the owner will simply walk away from the cemetery when it is full and when he has mined it for every last nickel.

There is something very bad and shameful going on at Evergreen, and it is not all the fault of the owner who has enjoyed selling plots and paying very little in real estate taxes for years now. There is also a huge amount of hypocrisy among Richmond blacks who protest against VCU but let the owner of Evergreen get away with sucking so much money out of that community and returning nothing. Actually, it is worse than nothing as the state of Evergreen means the obliteration of entire families and the death of history.

I hate to think about record keeping in the modern section of Evergreen and would like to see CHPN contact the owner of the cemetery and see what he says as to that issue, future plans, and the state of both the historic and the modern sections.

Recent burials in Evergreen, with the destroyed markers, blowing floral arrangements, and raw red clay look like a vision of Rwanda. The backhoe waits nearby to shovel another Richmonder in an anonymous grave after paying their money to Mr. X, the owner who graciously unlocks the gate (or not) according to whim.

This is dreadful, and if it were Hollywood Cemetery the outrage would be on a national scale. Instead, Evergreen Cemetery is just one more peculiar situation we tolerate here in our peculiar little city.

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James 08/11/2011 at 10:05 AM

“I hate to think about record keeping in the modern section of Evergreen and would like to see CHPN contact the owner of the cemetery and see what he says as to that issue, future plans, and the state of both the historic and the modern sections.”

Why don’t you do that? Post back here when you get some answers. Don’t be lazy. If you want to know these things, go investigate.

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John M 08/11/2011 at 10:13 AM

I don’t think that the situation has changed any since 2005 (PDF), with the exception of John Shuck’s weekly clean-up sessions at the lower section. The big issues remain, and that hardy band of volunteers are out there almost every Saturday clearing away the forest one plot at a time.

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Amy 08/11/2011 at 11:26 AM

Make some noise if this really makes you angry. Start with your council person and work your way up.

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La Cher 08/11/2011 at 11:56 AM

Great way to give back to the community.

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