Larry Wade, founder of the National African American Historical Society and a retired Tyler ISD teacher who still substitutes history classes, has led the efforts to clean and restore abandoned Black cemeteries. So far, he has worked on Universe Cemetery in Tyler and now, Garrett Cemetery, located behind him.

Members of the National African American Historical Society had their boots on the ground and rakes in their hands Saturday morning to begin restoration efforts after recently discovering a second abandoned Black cemetery in Tyler.

Larry Wade, founder of the National African American Historical Society and a retired Tyler ISD teacher who still substitutes history classes, previously led the efforts to clean and restore the Universe Cemetery, which he first heard of through Vicki Betts, former UT Tyler librarian and member of the Smith County Historical Society.

Saturday, members gathered to clean up and begin restoring Garrett Cemetery, which is located at the corner of Grande Boulevard and Hollytree Drive directly behind Kendrick Cemetery.

The members focused on cleaning the entrance of the cemetery first, so it’ll be easier to enter and exit as they continue to work on restoring the property.

“This cemetery is a jungle,” Wade said to describe how much work the group had ahead of them.

The property has a weeded area, is full of vegetation and has dirt bike trails. Through the weeds and beside the trails, about 25 to 50 people are buried.

Wade hopes people who may have relatives at Garrett Cemetery will visit.

“It’s a sad thing to have all these people buried out here and it just be forgotten and abandoned,” Wade said.

Only seven society members were present Saturday, but Wade hopes more volunteers will sign up to help with cleaning efforts. He welcomes churches, fraternities and sororities and any service organization to help clean and restore the abandoned Black cemeteries.

As far as ongoing maintenance for both abandoned cemeteries, Wade said the society has a long road ahead and needs help. The group’s first project, University Cemetery, is still not fully restored and constantly needs maintenance, such as cutting grass, removing branches and more, Wade said.

“It’s going to be more than what we can do. We can identify, we can put a dent in it and get it started, but it’s going to take the community and working with the city. I do believe they’ll be a great help,” Wade said.

Wade said unlike the first abandoned cemetery, Garrett Cemetery is located within the city limits. He is working to get help from city officials to see what they can do to help his mission. He said so far he has had a positive experience working with the city and hopes it can bring progress to the abandoned cemeteries.

“I’m trying to see if they can do something and what they can do in a case like this. When you have a cemetery that’s been abandoned, what can the city do and what are they willing to do,” Wade said.

Wade said the society discovered Garrett Cemetery through word of mouth when someone contacted him after he was seen on the news talking about the Universe Cemetery. Wade said Garrett Cemetery belongs to a white family and is located on their privately-owned property. According to Wade, the family never knew they owned a cemetery, rather just a piece of land with a dirt bike trail.

Wade said more Black abandoned cemeteries are being identified and he hopes to make this a national movement so abandoned Black cemeteries in each county can be rediscovered and restored. He said it is one of the goals of the National African American Historical Society but for Wade personally, this is a life mission.

He explained after studying his parents, grandparents and great grandparents’ history, he noticed missing chapters in history books.

“I saw missing chapters out of the history. This is America’s history, and we need to know. Until we know everybody’s history, we really don’t understand the full history,” Wade said.

Wade said one of the reasons he started the society was so Black history could be highlighted and to let people know what they have done. Wade said even during slavery, great contributions were made by the African American population, such as building the Capitol.

The society is welcoming donations and supplies as it works to restore the two cemeteries. The group is in need of power saws, weed eaters, rakes, shovels, power saws, limb trimmers and hedge clippers.

Those interested in helping to restore and preserve the Black cemeteries, or anyone interested in donating supplies or monetary contributions, can contact Wade at 903-452-3310.