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Historic cemetery needs our help

Alfred Quarterman continues his yearslong vigil as the lone caretaker of Rose Cemetery in Tarpon Springs, but at 76 years old, he just isn't able to keep up anymore. The weeds stay ahead of him now, and when he looks across the 5-acre graveyard, the amount of work to be done can seem overwhelming.

Who will step forward to take his place?

The care of Rose Cemetery, the traditional burial ground for black residents of Tarpon Springs, should not fall on one person in the future. The cemetery is part of the community, and it should be a community responsibility.

Quarterman often has appealed for help with his heavy burden. Sometimes help has come, but it has been sporadic. Quarterman was too often left to toil alone. He says he does it out of respect for the memories of those buried there, including members of his family. The same sentiment should drive others to provide the labor or money to prevent Rose Cemetery from falling into the unkempt embarrassment it was when Quarterman took it on in the early 1990s.

Quarterman, who now lives in Holiday and must commute to the cemetery, saw to it that the cemetery was incorporated as a private nonprofit organization. Quarterman heads the Rose Cemetery Association. However, he and others involved in that initial effort have never been able to provide a stable, sufficient income stream for the cemetery. Most cemeteries are supported through either the sale of new grave sites or government funding. Rose Cemetery can depend on neither. Few people want to buy grave sites in Rose anymore, though Quarterman plans to be buried there.

Three years ago, Pinellas County government stepped up to provide some help, using its ground-penetrating radar to locate graves that were never marked because the families of those buried there were too poor to afford grave markers. Around the same time, some local businesses and individuals volunteered to provide grave markers, a new gate and some sweat equity to clean up the grounds. Florida listed the cemetery on its registry of state heritage sites, recognizing the historic value of the cemetery to Tarpon Springs and Pinellas County.

All those efforts were commendable, but that was then. What about now? And what about in the years to come?

The potential razing of the Belleview Biltmore Hotel has stirred preservationists throughout the Tampa Bay area. They are passionate about saving the old hotel. Others who value history speak up with regularity about the need to preserve history as redevelopment sweeps Pinellas County.

Up in the northeast corner of Pinellas County, there is another historic site, but it seems to have no passionate protectors.

Who will stand up for Rose Cemetery?

[Last modified October 7, 2005, 01:50:23]