Community members, descendants, elected officials, scholars and clergy gathered on Sept. 13 at 2401 Belair Road to restore the memory of a nearly erased past. Laurel Cemetery—once the final resting place of tens of thousands of Black Baltimoreans—was honored with the unveiling of a new commemorative sign, now visible from Belair Road and the shopping center that occupies the site.
For more than a decade, the Laurel Cemetery Memorial Project has worked to document, research and piece together the stories of those buried there. The new sign stands as both a marker of truth and a reminder that history cannot be paved over.
Dr. Elgin Klugh, chair of the Memorial Project and professor at Coppin State University, welcomed those gathered, underscoring the solemn importance of remembering what development and neglect tried to erase…