Preserving their Past: Brooklyn residents want to protect historic cemetery, need donations

BROOKLYN, Ill. (First Alert 4) - It started with a push from his father. Nathaniel O’Bannon III was one of a number of Brooklyn residents his father talked into meeting up and starting to clear away the overgrowth on a cemetery that was hard to see in the middle of a large forest.

This was the in the 1990s, and before that time — very few people realized that a cemetery dedicated to this Black community held the final remains of generations of Brooklyn families. But now, the Brooklyn Historical Society and state officials are working hard to get the cemetery cleared, prepared and protected for the future.

Roberta Rogers, a member of the Historical Society tells First Alert 4 it is one of the first designated burial sites for Black Americans, with designated grave plots and markers.

“If you want to know how civilized a people are, look at how they bury their dead,” she says. “And that just resonated in my soul.”

As the oldest incorporated Black community in the nation, Brooklyn has many historic aspects. But the cemetery is getting special attention. Vandalism has happened inside the graveyard over time, and in recent years a number of folks have tresed on the land. Now, locals want to partner with Illinois universities, officials and donors to locate each grave, replace the markers and put up an iron fence to protect the site.

O’Bannon and Rogers tell First Alert 4 they’d like to see a historical marker explaining the importance of the site to visitors, and to commemorate the historic founding of the cemetery. According to the Historical Society, this land was purhased in 1891 for $1 — with the stipulation it was to be used only as a burial site.

When First Alert 4 visited the cemetery, a number of tombstones were knocked over, others embedded in the ground and some were so worn it was hard to read the names and dates.

Fixing the cemetery, and meeting state laws for cemeteries will take a “lot of professional work,” Rogers says. They’re hoping they can find local landscapers willing to help take care of the site and clean it, and follow the state’s laws.

“This is wonderful,” O’Bannon said of the site. “You never knew you were walking on top of a Holy Grail. Growing up , didn’t know the impoortance of it. We heard it, and didn’t’ know it was this important.”

“That sentence was profound,” Rogers says. “Because back in the day in those times when Black people were buried it was swampy areas or the edges - -but this town was given land for burial -- and this happened 15 or 20 years before St. Louis or Missouri was able to get a cemetery for Black people.”

If you would like to help the cemeteries future, you can donate to the ongoing campaign, closing at the end of the month. You can find the donation page at this link.

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Avery Martinez covers water, ag & the environment for First Alert 4. He is also a Report for America corps member, as well as a member of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk. His coverage goes from corn farms to hunting concerns, and local water rates to rancher mental health.

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