SUFFOLK, Va. — A historic African American cemetery tucked behind city buildings in Suffolk is home to hundreds of graves, some visible from a nearby parking lot, but many buried under inches of leaves and overgrown grass.
Oak Lawn Cemetery was established in 1885 by seven Black men who saw the need for an African American burial ground. The eight-acre property is the final resting place of hundreds of Black ministers, bankers, physicians and veterans — including a Tuskegee Airman.
A 1907 map of Suffolk shows Oak Lawn on the outskirts of the city, next to railroad tracks, labeled "Colored Cemetery."
Nadia Orton is a family historian, longtime volunteer and helped create the historical marker for Oak Lawn Cemetery. Her descendant is buried there. She said she has had to work just to read some of the headstones.
"I had to clear it with towels, and a lot of water and water's very muddy. Just to make out the name but once I saw parts I thought no way this can't be happening," Orton said.
Among those buried at Oak Lawn is a Tuskegee Airman who never reached his 25th birthday.
Orton said there are at least 450 legible graves, and families continue to make their way through the overgrowth to reach their loved ones.
"There's still plenty of people who come here and do whatever they have to do to get to their people because there are lots of flowers in areas where you think no one should have to go but they wear their boots and they bring out their lawn mowers and edgers and do whatever they have to do to keep getting to them," Orton said.
Parts of the property have become difficult — and potentially dangerous — to navigate.
"Areas like this back there currently really just aren't safe for children you have to wear boots and I have a snake stick in my car in case I did go back there but all that is necessary just to visit a grave," Orton said.
The Oak Lawn Cemetery Foundation was formed to maintain the cemetery grounds, but when the person responsible for the foundation died, volunteer help for cleanup and maintenance slowed down. The foundation's current leaders did not respond before deadline.
The cemetery is privately owned. This year, Virginia lawmakers passed a bill allowing nonprofits or neighboring property owners to petition a court to maintain neglected cemeteries when owners cannot be found.
Orton said it will take more than occasional volunteers to preserve the site.
"For this kind of cemetery it needs a greater community effort. I think the city could help with a little bit of that because a city would be able to get a larger grant than say a smaller foundation and that's what this would be required to get is probably upwards to 150 thousand over a certain number of years," Orton said.
City Councilman LeOtis Williams said his lawn business will cut the grass this week so families can easily find their loved ones on Memorial Day.
For Orton, the biggest concern is making sure this history is not lost.
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