KINGSTON, NY & SURROUNDING AREAS
RAISING THE DEAD: MT. ZION CEMETERY, KINGSTON, NY
The Mt. Zion Cemetery is a burial site for African American veterans of the Civil War and World Wars, as well as citizens of Kingston, NY from the 1850s to 1950s. In 1982, I was hired by the Strand Community Organization for the Renewal of the Environment (SCORE) to run a summer program for high school students, tasked with cleaning up and learning about those interred in the cemetery. We spent several weeks clearing bush, raking leaves and going through microfiche archives of newspapers and ultimately learned about the ancestors of present day, African American Kingstonians. Since then, local veterans have done a tremendous job of clearing the cemetery and placing memorials. Local historians and community groups have furthered research about the site and those interred. This photo shoot brings me full circle. It includes wide shots intended to map out the location of remaining markers - most of the 258 interred do not have identifiable markers. It also includes close ups of each headstone, marker and fragment, the latter resulting from vandals and fallen branches and trees. Many of the tombstones are barely legible after enduring the elements for over one hundred years. Some markers, as you will see, are in the process of being absorbed or reclaimed by the trees and earth.
