Houston Eagle Scout sets out to save historic black cemetery
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Near downtown on West Dallas sits a historic black cemetery full of rich history from the late 1800's.
This is where you can find the Jack Yates family.
However, headstones are missing, broken, or halfway buried under the ground.
"There's vandalization happening here every other week or so," Conner Roberts said.
It was the perfect special place he was looking for. He decided to start a GoFundMe in order to restore some of the marked gravestones and even out a few of the in-ground headstones as part of his Eagle Scout Project.
"It's going to take a lot of help," Roberts said. "I'm thinking like 30 people."
His goal is $10,000 but said he only needs $5,000 to fix the headstones, so the rest will go directly to the College Park Cemetery's nonprofit organization.
"We are always pleased to welcome Eagle Scout projects," said Mark McKinnon, board president of College Park Cemetery.
McKinnon was excited to hear about Conner's plan. He said it has taken years of hard work and many volunteer hours to get this historic cemetery to where it is right now, but there are still more projects in the works that cost money.
"Because of Conner's efforts, another story is shared and hopefully someone is inspired to come (if they find their loved one)," he said.
That's Conner's hope. He wants people to dig up their history, and if they do find their ancestors buried here, he would like them to visit a beautiful site and place flowers to honor their late loved ones.
"It makes me excited that people are helping me with this massive project," Conner said.
A GoFundMe has been started in order to raise money for the restorations.
