WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |Plea made to help clean historic cemetery

Plea made to help clean historic cemetery

By Jim Shannon - bio | email

BATON ROUGE, La (WAFB) - A desperate plea for help has been put out for one of Baton Rouge's most historic cemeteries. The president of the Sweet Olive Cemetery Association brought his message to the Lunchtime Lagniappe in downtown Baton Rouge Wednesday.

W.T. Winfield said if the community wants to save the historic place of honor, someone will have to soon step up. Historians will tell you Sweet Olive Cemetery is the final resting place for many former slaves in the Baton Rouge area. Evidence suggests the plot of land has served as a cemetery since 1850, but it is currently in shambles.

"We really haven't had a concerted effort since Hurricane Gustav," Winfield said. "Now, we really have to re-energize ourselves, really get focused, so we can build up an endowment for maintenance and to this point, we really haven't had that."

Grass has overtaken most of the tombs. Recent rains have prevented anyone from getting in. The only thing really going on at Sweet Olive is that the place is falling apart. Winfield said he thinks the remedy is lots of volunteers and hopefully, a number of philanthropists that would see the need of restoring a very historic place and help.

After the Civil War, the practice of burying slaves on plantations was abandoned. In Reconstruction and into the 1890s, black churches formed what were known as "benevolent societies" to deal with burials. The benevolent societies kept up Sweet Olive until 1975. With no revenue source, the cemetery continues to crumble.

"We haven't had a burial there in two years," Winfield said. "We are not funded by city, state or local, so we depend totally upon the good will of churches, volunteer groups, agencies that want to do volunteer work."

If you want to help out Sweet Olive, you can call the association at (225) 382-2133.

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