{"id":21192,"date":"2026-05-19T11:12:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T15:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/?post_type=wfsu-news&#038;p=21192"},"modified":"2026-05-19T11:41:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T15:41:35","slug":"once-neglected-and-overgrown-the-burial-grounds-for-those-who-were-enslaved-are-now-places-of-honor-and-remembrance","status":"publish","type":"wfsu-news","link":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/once-neglected-and-overgrown-the-burial-grounds-for-those-who-were-enslaved-are-now-places-of-honor-and-remembrance\/","title":{"rendered":"Once neglected and overgrown, the burial grounds for those who were enslaved are now places of honor and remembrance"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-21192-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/cpa.ds.npr.org\/s390\/audio\/2026\/05\/enslavedgraveyards0519full.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cpa.ds.npr.org\/s390\/audio\/2026\/05\/enslavedgraveyards0519full.mp3\">https:\/\/cpa.ds.npr.org\/s390\/audio\/2026\/05\/enslavedgraveyards0519full.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>As part of this week&#8217;s Florida Emancipation Day observance, dozens of people were taking a bus tour of some of Tallahassee&#8217;s oldest grave sites on Monday, April 18. These ancient cemeteries contain the remains of enslaved people who made up the majority of the community&#8217;s residents before the Civil War.<\/p>\n<p>The Betton Hills Neighborhood is one of those grave sites. It&#8217;s a final resting place for those who labored at the old Winthrop Plantation, which encompassed the property. Tallahassee historian Dr. Larry Rivers was giving cemetery visitors an appreciation for its importance.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I really think it&#8217;s so appropriate that we remember those enslaved human beings who helped to build Florida.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Part of that remembrance, said Mario Taylor with the Betton Neighborhood Association, is the careful tending and preservation of those gravesites.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is one of the cemeteries that we have now, not only rediscovered, but worked very hard to bring it back to the stature it should be.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Neighborhood resident Ashley Hopkins regularly cleans the ancient tombstones as a labor of love. She uses the gentle techniques favored by archeologists that prevent damage to the fragile artifacts.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s just important to keep the memory of these places alive. By cleaning and maintaining the headstones, we&#8217;re able to keep them in good shape for longer so their memory can live on,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>Other bus tour sites on Monday included the Munree and Hickory Hill graveyards on Miccosukee Road. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2026 WFSU<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[],"tags":[1136,1135],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Once neglected and overgrown, the burial grounds for those who were enslaved are now places of honor and remembrance - WFSU Local Routes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/once-neglected-and-overgrown-the-burial-grounds-for-those-who-were-enslaved-are-now-places-of-honor-and-remembrance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Once neglected and overgrown, the burial grounds for those who were enslaved are now places of honor and remembrance - 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