This is an event celebrating the African American and Quaker Cemeteries at Walter Pierce Park, featuring The Jubilee Singers of All Souls Unitarian Church, The Massachusetts 54th and 23rd Regiments of the U.S. Colored Troops, and the Ladies of FREED - Women of the Civil War. This event is free and all ages are welcome. No reservations are required.
Walter Pierce Park is the site of two cemeteries: the city's only Quaker Cemetery, founded in 1807, and the African American Mt. Pleasant Plain's Cemetery, established in 1870. More than 8,400 people were buried in the cemeteries before they were forced to close in 1890, due to neighborhood development.. In 2005, concerned citizens formed a grassroots alliance with Howard University to protect and commemorate the cemeteries at Walter Pierce. An archeological team led by Howard University biological anthropologist Mark Mack has conducted a non-invasive (no digging) survey of the park to determine where the graves are vulnerable. Archeological team historians have documented the names of 8,428 people buried in the cemeteries.
This event is sponsored by members of the Walter Pierce Park Archeological Project and the Kalorama Citizens Association.