The Eden Cemetery

To this day, America's history of racial injustice affects us, doesn't it? During our difficult
history, Native Americans were massacred, Black people were subjected to slavery for
250 years, and "race purity laws" that denigrated ethnic immigrants and people of colour
were all enacted. This country has made amazing strides in prosperity, innovation, and
development, but we also bear the burden of a painful history that they haven't fully
accepted, due to the elements in our daily lives that serve as reminders of this terrible
truth. Examples include the black cemeteries, which vividly depict the history of
segregation. Among these many burial grounds, we have the Eden Cemetery. Eden has
taken care of the early African American graves and burial sites across Philadelphia as
well as the history and culture of a people and the communities that were otherwise
invisible.
Let's start at the beginning of all of it. The Eden Cemetery is the oldest existing black
owned cemetery in the United States. Segregation and the battle for civil rights are
responsible for its creation. This burial ground in Pennsylvania, United States, was
established in 1840 and was first used on June 20th , 1902.During that time, a company
was able to successfully develop this cemetery. It required a lot of work and dedication,
but when the burial ground officially opened, it gave African Americans in the
Philadelphia region a place to be buried with dignity and respect. There are many graves
of notable African Americans from the 19th century that are buried there, such as James
Forten, a wealthy Philadelphian businessman and African American abolitionist.
Honoured as a hero of the American Revolution by the Free African Society's founding
members, who were well-known supporters of abolition and black suffrage. Moreover, he
promoted equal rights for African Americans, temperance, and women's suffrage. Eden
Cemetery, like many other old cemeteries, is still in use today. Approximately 150 burials
are completed each year. How amazing this is! Currently, it’s Joyce Mosley, an Eden
volunteer, who has been looking after this place for six years. She has also done
extensive study on her family tree and believes she has around 100 relatives buried at
Eden, including Celestine Cromwell, the first person buried there. She's mainly helping
protect the accounting records and books by creating an Excel database. "Eden reflects
Black agency, which is the history of anti-Black racism, and studies how both Black and
non-Black people might become resilient to prejudice, as well as how earlier African
Americans responded to the horrific discrimination of their era," said Chapman-Smith, a
public historian and civic activist. Together, they experienced life and death.
Unfortunately, the establishment of segregated cemeteries has only served to increase the
suffering of black people throughout time by serving as a constant reminder of the
historical injustices and traumas that they’ve had to experience. For the family and
relatives of the poor victims, it becomes a cause of grief and discomfort. When it comes
to these burials, the memory of having to battle for equal rights and dying at the same
time comes to mind. It may also inspire the perception that people of various races or
ethnicities might need to live in isolation from one another, creating racial and ethnic
tensions. In death, these people, like any other human, should be treated with dignity and
respect. They should have access to graves that respect their history and social
accomplishments.

To conclude, the segregated cemetery is a significant issue because we pay respect to all
those who have gone before us at these locations through their lives, contributions, and
memories. The tales of people who made numerous contributions to families,
communities, the country, and the globe are shared at cemeteries, which are like living
museums where we may confront the past. Because each cemetery is different and
important for the distinct perspectives they provide on African American history and life,
we should keep taking care of them. When taken as a whole, they offer a rich and potent
living history of African Americans that spans generations. To guarantee that we can
communicate the complete tale of American history, we must value every page and
maintain every cemetery.