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“Hike Through History” In Chattanooga’s Pleasant Garden Cemetery

WUTC | By Ray Bassett

Published April 3, 2024 at 6:33 PM EDT

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Pleasant Garden Cemetery - at 306 Rowe Rd. in Chattanooga - in August 2023.

Pleasant Garden Cemetery

Pleasant Garden Cemetery here in Chattanooga is one of the oldest historically Black cemeteries in Tennessee.

Opening in 1891, it is the final resting place for leading members of Chattanooga’s African-American community after Reconstruction and during Jim Crow segregation - as well as tragic figures, including Ed Johnson and at least one of the Scottsboro Boys.

Fifty years ago, the cemetery was abandoned - but in recent years, volunteers have taken on tasks to restore the site.

On Saturday, Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors - and the African American Cemetery Preservation Fund - will host a “Hike Through History” at Pleasant Garden, starting at 10 AM.

Donivan Brown is part of the cemetery’s restoration team - and executive director of the Horton-Keller Center for Traumatic Healing.

Chattanooga Parks & Outdoors