STUTTGART, Ark. — An unfortunate guarantee in life is laying loved ones to rest, and amid that painful process, there’s an expectation that their final resting place will be cared for.
That's the mission happening at the Love Rest Green Grove Cemetery in Stuttgart, a historic cemetery home to only African Americans laid to rest from the 1800s until the end of the 1970s.
The Love Rest Green Grove Cemetery Preservation Committee said the burial ground has consistently been a sore eye in the area for decades and they're looking for help to maintain this place crucial to families and history.
“What we have here are two cemeteries in one. One is Green Grove and beyond is Love Rest and that’s how we got the name,” explained Nell Crayton-Johnson, President of the cemetery’s preservation committee.
The cemetery means a lot to the sisters who make up the preservation committee, Nell Crayton-Johnson, Chicurby Crayton-Evans, and Onteaka Crayton-Scott, as they have multiple family members and friends buried there— but its importance stretches beyond their family, and its history goes back more than a century.
“Almost every African American in Stuttgart has a relative here because as African Americans, this was the only place we could be buried in the city at that time,” Chicurby Crayton-Evans said.
When entering the cemetery after exiting Highway 165, visitors are greeted by two pink flowers that mark the first burials in the late 1800s.
The significance of the flowers is not only that Etta Ellis and Hannah Rayford were the first to be buried, but that their burial site is unknown and lost, much like dozens of others.
“We have about 55 names of people who don't have headstones,” Crayton-Johnson said.
According to Crayton-Johnson, the cemetery reached capacity in 1978, but with only what’s visible, that doesn’t appear to be reality, despite the truth.
“People have given me names. and given me death certificates showing the people were buried here, but they don't know where they were buried,” Crayton-Johnson said. “We can't bury anybody else out here, because we'll end up burying people on top of people.”
This harsh reality alone is a part of the push behind the sisters' preservation efforts, mainly because they know the pain of having loved ones in an unkempt resting place.
At one time, the sisters visited separately and were both unable to locate their mother’s grave because of high grass at the time.
“I couldn't find it, and I just left in tears,” Onteaka Crayton-Scott said. “It just shouldn't be that way because you should be able to come to the cemetery and visit your loved ones in peace, not have it be a treasure hunt.”
They’re looking for help, monetary or service-based, as things like keeping the grass mowed cost $4,000, which mainly comes out of their pockets if they don’t have donations.
“We're on a mission now to try and get the money to get trees up that have fallen this year, and we still got to pay to keep the lawnmowers around,” Crayton-Johnson said.
The preservation committee over the cemetery is a 501c3 organization, which means they’re a non-profit. The sisters hope this inspires people to give back, as they try to do what they can for as long as they can.
“It's challenging sometimes, but I’m staying with it for the long haul,” Crayton-Johnson said. “They deserve better.”
They’re hoping to reach more people to help with cemetery upkeep, whether that be removing trees and debris, paving a driveway, creating a registry for the unmarked graves, or donating to keep maintenance taken care of.
“We're just trying to take care of this cemetery because it's our legacy, it's our history,” Crayton-Johnson added.
All donations or letters to ask questions can be sent to Love Historic Love Rest Green Grove Cemetery Corp., 2400 Wright Ave., Little Rock, AR. 72202.