BY KENDYL HOLLINGSWORTH
KENDYLH@OPELIKAOBSERVER.COM
OPELIKA —
The community is invited to come together at Baptist Hill Cemetery Saturday, March 25, to take part in spring cleanup efforts.
The cleanup will begin at 9 a.m. with a welcome message, followed by a brief moment of silence. After that, instructions will be given before the workday officially begins at about 9:15 a.m.
Baptist Hill is a community cemetery and the first historic Black cemetery in Auburn, according to Robert Bubb, an Auburn University professor and coordinator for Research to Preserve African American Stories and Traditions (rPAAST).
Baptist Hill is one such cemetery that relies on volunteers to provide regular maintenance and cleanup, and there is a job to do for just about anyone.
“We will clean headstones, clear more of the cemetery borders and pick up fallen branches, rake leaves, trim bushes and sweep off ledgers,” Bubb said, as well as pick up any trash on the premises.
While there will be some tools available, Bubb said he encourages all volunteers to bring work gloves, as well as any extra pruners, soft-bristle brooms, plastic rakes, tarps or sturdy blankets they may have. The more tools available, the faster the work can go.
Several groups are already set to be represented at the March 25 cleanup, including the Auburn Junior High School Friends of Baptist Hill Club, Milton W. Howze Lodge #408 and Auburn University’s Big Event.
Baptist Hill Cemetery is located at the intersection of South Dean Road and Thach Avenue in Auburn. Volunteers should park either at Auburn Public Library or along McKinley Avenue, Maple Street or Old Mill Road and walk to the lot at the corner of McKinley Avenue and South Dean Road.
“We are trying to limit vehicle traffic in the cemetery, so we will stage at that corner lot [800 McKinley Ave.],” Bubb said.
Bubb has dedicated himself to cemetery research and preservation across the county and has, in recent years, spearheaded efforts to protect and maintain the George and Addie Giddens Cemetery on Frederick Road in Opelika, along with the Lee County Cemetery Preservation Commission. He also helped the Giddens Cemetery secure historic designation in 2022 from the Alabama Historical Commission.
Much of rPAAST’s efforts began with Baptist Hill Cemetery. As one of the most well-known “community cemeteries” in the area, Bubb determined it would be a good place to start in his research and preservation efforts in Lee County.
“The cemetery contains the lost stories of early African Americans in Auburn,” the rPAAST website reads. “Many of the plots at the southern end and along Dean Road — both marked and unmarked — hold formerly enslaved persons and early members of Ebenezer Baptist Church. The northern end of the cemetery generally holds more recent burials. Those interred represent the business owners, religious leaders, educators, skilled crafters, military veterans, service laborers and everyday persons who shaped the early black community in Auburn while living in the segregated South.”
Bubb said he hopes the community will take care to respect historical cemeteries and remember the people and history behind them, whether in marked or unmarked graves.
“Lee County has an amazing and rich African American history that is rarely talked about and discussed,” he told The Observer last May. “Yet, it is a fundamental part of how Auburn, Opelika and surrounding communities were built. It is in these historic African American cemeteries where the foundation of our community was laid. … [Those interred] should be remembered and respected, even if many lie in unmarked, unknown graves.”
For more information about Baptist Hill Cemetery, including some of the people interred there, visit rpaast.weebly.com/baptist-hill-cemetery.html.