PORTSMOUTH, Va. — If you read the headstones at the Lincoln Memorial Cemetery off of Deep Creek Boulevard in Portsmouth, you'll find generations of Black Americans from the early 20th Century up to present day.
You'll find veterans from WWI, WWII, Vietnam and Korea.
Within the circular grounds, rests a monument dedicated to Black soldiers who served in the Civil War.
Portsmouth resident Lisa Bares visits her mother at the cemetery often, but she said trips to the site haven't been easy.
"I'm afraid to walk. I'm afraid to fall in something. The headstones are broken. They're fallen in. This is what we have out here. This is what we have," said Bares as she showed News 3 the condition of the cemetery.
The broken, toppled headstones at the site and rutted roads are not the only issues. Bares added the cemeteries faced years of drainage issues.
"It's bad. It makes you feel, 'Oh my gosh, did I put my family member out at the cemetery when it looks like this?' It makes you think you want to dig them up and put them at a nicer cemetery," said Bares.
Over the years, the funding for upkeep hasn't been consistent as the cemetery made its way through the hands of private owners. That's why some pushed for it to become a city site.
"The cemetery's here because of segregation. If you go back into the history of the area of Portsmouth there were no cemeteries for African Americans except for Calvary cemetery," said historian Charles Johnson. "That was closed down in 1964. In between that time, it was filling up and there was no place for African Americans to be buried. So they were looking for a site and this was the site that was found, because of segregation they were not able to be buried in the city cemetery."
Johnson said much can be learned at the site.
He showed News 3 marble military stones which the African American Historical Society of Portsmouth is working with the government to replace.
He pointed out other marble headstones, too.
"These are called the bed rest stones. They're found mostly throughout the south. It's like a pillow and a lot of people say they're going to rest. These were all handmade," said Johnson.
"Around the base of this monument, a family. A family tree in stone," he pointed again.
He added the present state of the cemetery is disrespectful to the past.
"A cemetery to me is a showing what people have gone through. Their struggles. Their achievements. It's a museum in a way...so to me what I see here is a lack of equity for those people in this city, this society," said Johnson.
Thanks to a unanimous vote from Portsmouth City Council, the cemetery's now under city care. Last month, city council took on the site, allotting $50,000 in this fiscal year's budget for perpetual care, including draining and road and monument repair.
When News 3 reached out to the city, they declined to comment on a timeline for repairs or explain how drainage issues on the property will be managed.
Workers were on site mowing when News 3 was on site last Thursday.
