Bethlehem Methodist Episcopal Cemetery Restoration Organization Records

The work of the Bethlehem Methodist Episcopal Cemetery Restoration Organization is an exemplary model of a community-based, community-driven initiative to protect, document, and permanently maintain a historic cemetery, in this case a cemetery serving Black families in Archer, Fla., and associated with Bethlehem Methodist Episcopal Church. Modern efforts to protect the cemetery date to 1999-2000 when local resident Clyde Williams organized volunteers to clean up the cemetery and established the Restoration Organization. Initial work focused on cutting down trees and bushes that had grown up to obscure or damage graves, and on documenting the cemetery’s history. Williams’ sister, Roberta Lopez, carried on these efforts as member and president of the BMEC Restoration Organization. The materials in this collection primarily represent the work of the Restoration Organization from 2015 to 2022, including: register of the cemetery with the Florida Master Site File; placement of the cemetery on the National Register of Historic Places (2015); and fund-raising and partnership-building to restore the cemetery. The Restoration Organization worked with the Florida Public Archaeology Network to conduct a ground-penetrating radar survey of the entire area to locate unmarked graves and define the boundaries of the cemetery; with UF Historic Preservation to document the history of the cemetery, conduct workshops in cleaning and repair of headstones, and undertake this work; and raised funds to provide signage at the cemetery, to create a memorial naming people interred there, and to beautify the property.