By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Unmarked African-American graves are lost in time
More than 1,100 found in area at Alta Vista Cemetery set aside for blacks
0717cemetery1
Gainesville City Councilwoman Barbara Brooks reflects on the history of unmarked graves in the historically African-American section of Alta Vista Cemetery.
Perhaps nowhere is the lost history of Gainesville’s African-American community more obvious than in the 1,148 unmarked graves recently identified at the Alta Vista cemetery. “At one time, you were not as welcome,” Councilwoman Barbara Brooks said, as if speaking directly to the dead, while visiting the cemetery on Friday morning. “But now you are.”