Midland Cemetery listed on National Register of Historic Places
Steelton cemetery is final resting place for many African-Americans
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Scott LaMar
Historic Midland Cemetery in Steelton is even more historic — officially. Midland Cemetery has been nominated for the National Register of Historic Places.
Founded in 1795, the cemetery is the final resting place for many African-Americans – some of which were enslaved people and veterans of the Civil War and World Wars I and II.
Scott LaMar/WITF
Barbara Barksdale, Founder and President of The Friends of Midland Cemetery
On The Spark Thursday, Barbara Barksdale, a historian and Founder and President of the Friends of Midland, said the cemetery was condemned and bodies would have been moved when she began removing overgrown weeds and trees and restoring the cemetery,”I started the cemetery process of restoration, mainly because of my grandfather, because he is buried there. I never knew exactly where, but my parents would go into the woods because it was always woods to me. We would go into the woods or they would go into the woods and plant flowers for Memorial Weekend, as well as I heard, and many years later that other people did the same thing. And that’s what started it. I wanted to make sure that I continued on what my parents, especially my mom, because was her father, and go in there and put something down. I told my son when he was 11 years old that, Hey, if I can clean it up now, then we’ll be at just throw flowers down on his grave. And this is what happened. This is the beginning.”
Barksdale was asked what being on the National Register of Historic Places means to her,”The National Register of Historic Places is our national official list of properties significant in American history architecture, archeology, engineering and culture. Okay. And these people, these places contribute to our understanding of the historical and cultural foundation of the United States. And the wonderful thing about this is that the other day, Mr. Stern, who was part of the spiritual messengers playing at our service, he made it when he spoke about the cemetery, he says, Do you realize that you’re standing on a national site now? It’s like, Oh my God, is for real, you know? And so they go on with this. The National Register is ministered by the by Pennsylvania, by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in partnership with the National Park Service. So it means a lot to us. And I say us because it’s been a whole huge team of people that has helped me over the years. And it means a lot to say that we are saving the history that we’re notating, the history that we’re sharing the history, and above all, that we’re preserving it for our future generations to come.”
