CLEARWATER, Fla. — Tonya Barber had no idea what lay next door when she bought her home in Clearwater.
"You could not even see any of the headstones because the grass was this high. I had no idea till after I bought the house," she said.
But right next door, underneath overgrown grass and vegetation, and even potentially her own home, lay a forgotten African-American cemetery.
"I have no problem with that. But I'm like, 'Who's taking care of this? Who's responsible? This is crazy.' Besides that, it's buttoned up next to my yard. So all the varmints out here, getting in my yard," she recalled.
So Barber began to landscape the land next door.
"One of the first things I bought was a big riding mower. So I could not only do my yard but then cut paths over here to get around and then kind of work our ways in," she said.
Soon, Tonya's discovery became a community affair. Eventually, blossoming into the Whispering Souls African-American Cemetery Restoration Project. That includes Board President Jacqueline Hayes, who shares a special connection to the very cemetery.
"My grandparents are buried here, Amanda and Charlie Smith. And it's a cemetery that's been forgotten," said Hayes.
Forgotten, like so many other black cemeteries. But the Whispering Soul African American Cemetery Restoration Project wants to breathe new life into the site.
"To restore this final resting place, one of the few African American cemeteries in the Tampa Bay area that's intact. It's important to keep the history alive and preserve the history for our remaining cemetery, not under a building, not under the school, not under a road, but a burial ground active," she said.
The group has spent years clearing the land that's rich in history, owning the land for a year. This ownership will hopefully make sure it never becomes a buried piece of history again.
"The judge put an extra order on our land so it'll never be developed," she explained.
Furthermore, there's a historic joint effort between two cities and Pinellas County to preserve and honor the history of the land.
The City of Safety Harbor will handle removing invasive trees on the property, while the City of Clearwater will put a fence around the cemetery. While Pinellas County is in the process of approving a historical marker to commemorate the lives laid to rest in the cemetery.
For Lisa Armstrong, this serves as a chance to make sure the history is no longer forgotten or repeated.
"One of the things that we're doing is working to create educational programming for K through 12, where students will be able to do place-based learning about various cemeteries that have been erased or discarded or mismanaged, or whatever the case may be," she said.
Armstrong is the Director of Community Engagement for Special Angels Investments. Her goal is to bring the stories buried underneath the growth of multiple cities to life.
"It's always important to know your history. It's one of the ways that you can prevent the same mistakes happening over and over again. And the more you know about yourself, the more you can appreciate your place in society, and you treat things better when you feel like you're a part of it, and you understand your place," she said.
Find more information about Whispering Souls here and learn about Special Angels here.
