MACON, Ga. — Rose Hill Cemetery has been the target of vandalism for years.
Just two weeks ago, parts of the property were vandalized by people who still have not been identified.
Despite the defacement, Rose Hill Preservation and Restoration, Inc. is welcoming guests to see history up close.
The non-profit is teaming up with Historic Macon in their latest efforts to highlight the restoration of Rose Hill Cemetery.
Years-long restoration efforts by the the group involved clearing out weeds and brush at the Oak Ridge section of Rose Hill.
Adrian Jelks serves as a board member of Rose Hill Preservation and Restoration.
Generations of Jelks' family are buried in Rose Hill, but she says there's a goldmine of history in Oak Ridge.
"Because of the under documentation of a lot of these burials, I think they're lost to generations," Jelks said. "The more that we can get to collaborate with the organizations that maybe already have information on these folks and get it centralized in an archive of some sort, there is hope to make the connections further."
Oak Ridge is a resting place of slaves and other African American families and their descendants dating back to the 1840s.
A new Twilight Tour will bring visitors by sections that are being refurbished after years of neglect before volunteer efforts began.
"As folks walk through the tour, they're going to see the beautiful headstones upright that have been repaired by Joey," Jelks said. "He dug down in the dirt and found them. Once you get that, those pieces upright and proud and in a proper place, people can really start to see what maybe they can do in the future to participate."
Joey Fernandez serves as president of Rose Hill Preservation and Restoration.
He started working to preserve Oak Ridge in 2019.
"We'll never find out everything about the people in here, but we're having a better understanding of Oak Ridge Cemetery and the people that are buried there," Fernandez said. "I'm not saying Oak Ridge Cemetery has never been on the map, but there's enough attention now that we're connecting all the pieces to the puzzle."
They hope sharing those pieces will encourage others to get involved in the preservation as well.
There are still available spots for next week's Twilight Tour on Saturday, Aug. 10 at 7 p.m. All proceeds will be used to further the preservation of Rose Hill and Oak Ridge Cemeteries.