LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) – For generations, Chloe Historic Cemetery sat buried beneath briars, fallen trees and decades of neglect. This weekend, volunteers cleared a path through it – and found far more than they expected.
The 19th-century burial ground, also known as St. Mary Cemetery, sits off Shane Road and English Bayou in Calcasieu Parish. It holds the graves of African American, Creole and Native American families, including people who were enslaved – all once barred from burial in the area’s white cemeteries.
“For generations, this was a burial ground for people of color,” said Jed Duhon, principal chief of the Louisiana Attakapas Eagle Tribe. “You weren’t going into the white cemetery. Not going to happen.”…