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An effort is under way to identify who is at Rose Cemetery, a historically black graveyard in Tarpon Springs.
By KATHERINE GAZELLA
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 10, 2001
TARPON SPRINGS -- Alfred Quarterman knows more about Rose Cemetery than just about anyone, but he still can't answer every question. Even a seemingly simple one such as, Is anyone buried in that plot where you're standing?
Quarterman, 71, who volunteers his time to care for the historically black cemetery, stood in the middle of a plot last week and gave a darned-if-I-know look.
"I'm given a list of eight names for this section here," he said. "But if you look, you've only got one marker."
How could it be that Hattie Thomas, 1870-1942, is the only person with a headstone in this plot, even though Quarterman's probe hits something hard underground at several other places? And how is it that fewer than one-fourth of the graves in the largest section of the cemetery are marked?
The answers go back to the beginning of the 100-year history of the cemetery. The Rose Cemetery is a memoir of the days when racial segregation was the rule and black people were not allowed to be buried next to white people, up to the present day, when families choose to bury their loved ones at Rose. But with markers on only a fraction of the graves, the memoir is incomplete.
Quarterman and a few others in the city are trying to find a remedy. They are asking for a state grant of $17,000, which, along with matching funds or in-kind contributions from the city, Vinson Funeral Homes and others, would help to identify wherepeople are buried.
The money would go toward hiring an archaeology firm that would use ground-penetrating radar to find graves. Each unmarked grave then would be identified with a number. Phyllis Kolianos, the manager of the city's Historical Society, would research who is buried in recent graves and volunteers would conduct oral histories to find out whose remains lie in older graves.
The grant money would pay for permanent markers on some of the graves, which currently aren't marked at all or only have small metal plates that are given out free by funeral homes and were intended as temporary markers. Many of the metal plates are so rusted that the names are no longer visible.
"The saddest thing is not knowing where someone's loved one is buried," said former City Commissioner David Archie, who has several relatives buried in marked graves at Rose.
Pat Weber, executive director of the city's housing authority and one of the authors of the grant proposal, said time and money should be poured into Rose Cemetery to lift it up from its current condition. She said it is unacceptable to have so many graves without markers.
"I think it's a disgrace," she said. "There are many reasons for it, and no one is to blame, but I think it's the responsibility of all of us in Tarpon Springs to right that wrong."
The cemetery, which is run by a non-profit private group, stands in sharp contrast to the well-manicured, city-run Cycadia Cemeteryacross the street. Cycadia is spectacular, with its fountain and evenly spaced marble monuments.
"It's good that they're side-by-side," said Glenn Davis, a former city commissioner who wanted the city to take over Rose a few years ago. "You can't see one without seeing the other. It just goes to show how people were treated and are still being treated."
Nobody blames the private cemetery association for the problems at the cemetery; indeed,many people praise the group for making progress at Rose with few resources.
It is not clear whether the city will take over Rose, or even if the public would want that. In the past, when the city discussed a takeover of the cemetery, some city officials and many black residents objected to the idea.
Resources are limited because the only income at the cemetery comes from new burials, but it is increasingly difficult to find open spaces in a cemetery filled with unmarked graves, Quarterman said. He said he doesn't know which plots have openings and which are filled, a problem he hopes the state grant would fix.
"I don't want to sell anyone anything that's already taken," he said.
The unmarked graves aren't the only difficulty facing Rose Cemetery. Quarterman often has volunteers at the 5-acre cemetery, sometimes work-release crews and sometimes Boy Scout troops. Even so, he said, it is difficult to keep up with the weeds that grow knee-high and the debris scattered over the grounds.
Marking the graves is vitally important, Weber said, but it should not be the end of the improvements at the cemetery.
"It really does nothing to make the cemetery look better," she said. "What they really need is a source of money."
Quarterman has taken several steps to improve the look of the cemetery and no longer allows the temporary metal markers. All new graves must have permanent headstones, he said.
As for the existing graves, the grant money would pay only for Area B, which comprises about half the property. Quarterman said he hopes to get more money in the future for the other parts of the cemetery, including the infant section. Many graves there had temporary markers that have been removed or are rusted so the names are no longer visible.
"That's where they buried all the babies," he said. "But there again, somebody took away all the markers."
- Staff writer Katherine Gazella can be reached at (727) 445-4182 or gazella@sptimes.com.