Jim Laidler, Cemetery Manager for the City of Richmond, has let me know that he is applying for state funds recently made available from the General Assembly as a result of H.B. 1547. This legislation offers $5 per grave for those of African American ancestry who lived before 1900 and are buried in a historical cemetery owned by a government or nonprofit. The funds can help with upkeep and preservation, and such “perpetual care” would make a big difference for the Barton Heights cemeteries, which would seem to qualify. The challenge now is to count/authenticate how many such burials exist at Barton Heights. I can document 3,626, or $18,130 annually to start, which is only a small percentage of the burials there. Does anyone want to help us count graves at Barton Heights?
Leave a Reply