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Rock of Ages Cemetery hosted a grave cleaning for black veterans in honor of the Memorial Day holiday.

Several community members gathered at Rock of Ages Cemetery Saturday morning to help clean up more than 80 graves of black veterans.

Dr. Alpha Alexander, Morristown Task Force on Diversity chair, explained the importance of the cemetery.

“The Rock of Ages Cemetery has been known as the black cemetery in town,” she said. “My parents are buried there and a lot of my family is buried there. It’s where a lot of black families in the community were buried.”

“We originally thought there were 200 graves there and we thought there would be 65 black veterans buried there and now we found that there’s more than 800 graves on site and more than 80 veterans buried there.”

She explained why the group decided to get together to clean grave markers.

“With it being Memorial Day weekend, we wanted to honor those who have given their lives for the country and protect those freedoms we hold dear to us,” she said. “We wanted to do something to honor and give recognition to that cemetery that often gets overlooked,” she said. “It has been forgotten for some time and we thought it was a great opportunity to honor them.”

Alexander called on several organizations to help with the project, each working hard to honor those who served the country.

“The Veteran Memorial Foundation, The Morristown Task Force on Diversity and the Rock of Ages Baptist Church came together this morning and we went through and cleaned several tombstones of veterans at the cemetery.”

“We went through and cleaned the headstones and identified where the veterans were located and marked them on the cemetery’s map.”

Alexander explained the importance of respecting those no longer with us, especially those who fought for the country’s freedom.

“A lot of veterans go into military cemeteries but there are so many in regular ones and it’s important to honor those as well,” she said. “But how the community treats the dead speaks volumes about the community.”

“It’s important to raise awareness and donate to the cemetery to help with the upkeep of those tombstones.”

“If you see a veteran’s tombstone that needs to be cleaned I encourage you to step up and make a difference.”

The Rock of Ages Cemetery is located at 20 W 13th N St in Morristown, on the property of the Rock of Ages Baptist Church.