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View of the Friendship Cemetery in 2011, after brush clearing by volunteers with the Hot Springs Historic Friendship Cemetery Preservation Association.

Kathleen Cande (CO) and Mary Beth Trubitt (HSU Arkadelphia Research Station)

For several years in the early 2000s, the Arkansas legislature designated funds to the Arkansas Humanities Council (AHC) for a grant program devoted to researching and preserving African-American cemeteries in the state. Individuals and organizations receiving these grants were encouraged to provide information on the cemeteries for the Arkansas Archeological Survey’s archeological site database. Survey research station archeologists assisted those applying for grants by serving as humanities scholars. While this special grant program no longer exists, the AHC continues to provide support for organizations interested in cemetery preservation.
A woman holding a red and white pole stands in a wooded area.
The metal bracket from a funeral home marker is the only sign of the grave remaining in this Garland County cemetery.
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Overgrown graves at Friendship Cemetery, before cleanup.
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Broken and fallen gravestones can be noted during a conditions survey.
A group of people sitting and standing under a shade tree.
Members and friends of the Hot Springs Historic Friendship Cemetery Preservation Association gathered for Memorial Day 2011 to discuss preservation efforts and to collect information about the cemetery’s history.
Cemetery associations across the state have received Arkansas Humanities Council minigrants for cemetery preservation and documentation, fencing, and gravestone repair. Arkansas Archeological Survey archeologists have assisted by recording cemeteries as archeological sites, and by advising cemetery groups on best practices. In some cases, we have assisted cemetery groups with mapping cemeteries. In other cases, we have provided information on how to recognize unmarked graves so that cemetery associations can create their own maps using community volunteers.
The Arkansas Archeological Survey works with the Arkansas Humanities Council, the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, and private groups like the Preservation of African American Cemeteries, Inc. to provide preservation assistance and educational resources. If you have questions about cemeteries in Arkansas, read our Cemetery Preservation web page and contact our Cemetery Preservation Coordinator, Ms. Kathleen Cande (479-575-3556).
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The gravestone of Spence Cole reads “Gone but not forgotten.” This cemetery in Hot Spring County has now been recorded as archeological site 3HS608.
A statue of a woman holding a wreath sits on top of a grave marker.
Many of the cemeteries visited by Arkansas Archeological Survey archeologists are in active use and are maintained by cemetery associations.
A broken grave headstone.
The Arkansas Archeological Survey worked with the county sheriff after vandalism to grave markers was reported at this cemetery in 2002.

About This Series

The Arkansas Archeological Survey celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2017. Our mission to study and conserve the state's archeological heritage and to communicate our knowledge to the public was established by the Arkansas legislature with passage of Act 39 in 1967. In honor of that occasion, we are posting weekly “Historic Moments” to share memories of some of our most interesting accomplishments and experiences.