Preservation on the Property
Here in the United Sates we are lucky to have the National Park Service, a government agency who's one of many jobs is to create a register of our Nations historical sites that are worthy of being preserved. The official name for the program is the National Register of Historical Places, Mount Zion was added to the list on August 6, 1975. Here is a link to see the Historical Survey Report that was completed for Mount Zion Cemetery, you can learn a little bit more about what it takes for a site to make it onto the register.
Now the unfortunate part of all this is that just because a site is on the National Register does not mean that it becomes a top priority and that it will be cared for and fixed. The National Register has been around since 1966 and has 95,000 historical sites on its list, and because of this not all them are treated equally. The intention of putting a property on the National Register is to hope that it will spark pride in a community for the location or draw more tourism (safely) to a location. But it is still the job and duty of the local governing body to provide the funds and plans to preserve the site.
Looking at the site today it would be hard to believe that people over the years have made the effort to clean and preserve the site. A man with the name of Vincent de Forest, better know as the former President of the Afro - American Bicentennial Corporation, the group who cleaned the cemetery in 1976,and later a special assistant to the director of the National Park Service has been fighting a uphill battle for the cemetery for years. Mr. de Forest is responsible for not only putting Mount Zion Cemetery on the National Register of Historic Places but also many other historically black locations as well. When Mr. de Forest arrived at the cemetery in 1976 he commented on the fact that the underbrush was so bad that he could not see a single headstone. He and group of college students from around the city cleaned up the cemetery. It is said that plans were even made for a full restoration and a possible museum but the project fell short due to lack of funds.
Photo: African American students in 1975, likely members of the Afro-American Bicentennial Corporation who volunteered to clean up the cemetery in 1975/1976. (Credit: National Trust for Historical Preservation)
Now the unfortunate part of all this is that just because a site is on the National Register does not mean that it becomes a top priority and that it will be cared for and fixed. The National Register has been around since 1966 and has 95,000 historical sites on its list, and because of this not all them are treated equally. The intention of putting a property on the National Register is to hope that it will spark pride in a community for the location or draw more tourism (safely) to a location. But it is still the job and duty of the local governing body to provide the funds and plans to preserve the site.
Looking at the site today it would be hard to believe that people over the years have made the effort to clean and preserve the site. A man with the name of Vincent de Forest, better know as the former President of the Afro - American Bicentennial Corporation, the group who cleaned the cemetery in 1976,and later a special assistant to the director of the National Park Service has been fighting a uphill battle for the cemetery for years. Mr. de Forest is responsible for not only putting Mount Zion Cemetery on the National Register of Historic Places but also many other historically black locations as well. When Mr. de Forest arrived at the cemetery in 1976 he commented on the fact that the underbrush was so bad that he could not see a single headstone. He and group of college students from around the city cleaned up the cemetery. It is said that plans were even made for a full restoration and a possible museum but the project fell short due to lack of funds.
Photo: Board members of Historical Black Preservation Project stand with official National Register sign. (Credit: The Washington Informen, 2018)
Today it is obvious that the efforts of many have been done in vain and looking across to the Oak Hill Cemetery a mostly white cemetery it is hard not to think that the white cemetery was more of a priority than the black one. But some have still not given up on the site, it was added to D.C. Preservation Leagues list of most endangered places in 2012. A plan to restore and preserve the cemetery were created in 2015 to help improve erosion on the site and a other general repairs. Today in 2019 I can find little to no evidence that the plan ever went through, probably due to a lack of funding. The hope is that someone will keep fighting for the important Georgetown location and that one day it will be restored and that those who have been laid to rest will not be forgotten and trampled by their surroundings.
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