The Story
Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery was founded in 1882 by the Gospel Pilgrim Society, an African American fraternal and burial-insurance organization that provided dignified funerals and burial space for Black residents of the Athens area during the Jim Crow era. The nine-acre cemetery holds an estimated 3,500 graves, most of them unmarked, and among those interred here are Reconstruction-era state legislator Madison Davis and the nationally celebrated quilt artist Harriet Powers. As one of the earliest Black-owned and operated cemeteries in the region, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
About this site
Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery is a cemetery in Athens, Athens-Clarke County. It is one of 28 cemeteries documented in Athens-Clarke County, among 141 historic sites cataloged across the county on Georgia Roam.
The site sits at 33.9695, -83.3619 near Athens. The nearest cataloged historic site is Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Cook & Brother Armory Earthworks, Hanna Manufacturing Co., and Cook & Brother Confederate Armory.
This record is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
History
Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery was founded in 1882 by the Gospel Pilgrim Society, an African American fraternal and burial-insurance organization that provided dignified funerals and burial space for Black residents of the Athens area during the Jim Crow era. The nine-acre cemetery holds an estimated 3,500 graves, most of them unmarked, and among those interred here are Reconstruction-era state legislator Madison Davis and the nationally celebrated quilt artist Harriet Powers. As one of the earliest Black-owned and operated cemeteries in the region, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
Sources: en.wikipedia.orggeorgiahistory.comadp.ehistory.org
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