WASHINGTON — An almost forgotten burial ground got some long overdue recognition Saturday morning in Northwest D.C.
More than 8,400 people were laid to rest at what is now Walter Pierce Park. The site hasn’t had gravestones for more than a hundred years, but new signage will keep the names of those people alive.
“They were loved. We know they were loved because they were buried here," said Mary Belcher, an Adams Morgan resident for 30 years. She spearheaded the project to get the city to install nine brand new signs that give the name, date of death, and age of every person buried there. It's called the Ancestors Pavilion.
Descendants, like Tawana Thomas, shared their connections to the cemetery at Saturday's ceremony. Her great, great grandfather was buried at Walter Pierce Park in the 1890's.
"About 20 years ago I found out that he was buried here and when I came here, I was saying, there’s no cemetery, no headstones. What’s going on?" said Thomas, who thought this project would never come to fruition. "I’m so proud of my ancestor, Eli Gales, who fought in the Civil War. He was already making history and now he’s making history again even after his death 125 years ago.”
Belcher fought the city’s planned construction on the site 20 years ago and worked tirelessly to create a place of respect for those buried here. A Quaker cemetery and an African American cemetery sat on seven acres here in the 1800's. Gravestones were removed around 1900.
“It’s so special to be able to mark graves that have been missing from our site for more than 100 years, and to say these people existed," said Belcher.
“Opening this ancestor pavilion and really, truly understanding the community context and what it represents for D.C., it means a lot," said Ella Faulkner, the Deputy Director for Capitol Construction Services with DC Department of General Services. The city funded the Ancestors Pavilion project.
Thomas hopes everyone traveling through Walter Pierce Park stops to read the new signage.
"Please come out and see the Ancestors Pavilion," said Thomas. "Look at this pavilion and find your ancestor’s name on here and you’re going to be proud like I’m proud."