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Meet the Eagle Scout who Raised Funds to Rebuild and Commemorate a Former Slave Cemetery in Virginia

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Boy Scout Troop 4077 of Alexandria, Virginia, stand around the newly dedicated sign at Douglass Memorial Cemetery on Thursday. The sign was part of an Eagle Scout project for Griffin Burchard, 16, who is standing to the right of the sign in this photo. (Sophie Kaplan/ The Washington Times)

THE DOUGLASS Memorial Cemetery in Alexandria, VA was the final resting place for many freemen and slaves that helped erect the city.

The Roanoke Times said, “[Eagle Scout] Griffin Burchard never forgot the dilapidated Virginia cemetery named after one of the most famous African Americans of the 19th century.”

Burchard first spotted Douglass Memorial Cemetery – named for orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglass – while on a service trip with his Boy Scout troop about three years ago. The scouts were supposed to be removing faded wreaths from pristine rows of graves inside the well-maintained Alexandria National Cemetery.

But Burchard’s eyes were drawn to the run-down plot just down the street.

“I noticed that, unlike all the other cemeteries in the complex, it was not being kept up,” said Burchard, 16. “There were fallen leaves, signs of flooding and trees with limbs hanging so far over you couldn’t even read the sign that says, ‘Douglass.'”

On Thursday afternoon, Burchard stood in that same cemetery, now swept clean of debris, and smiled as he watched a fellow Boy Scout whip away a black cloth to reveal a brand-new sign for the plot. It was the culmination of a monthslong restoration project Burchard undertook to earn Eagle Scout status – and it was timed to coincide with the 400th anniversary of enslaved Africans’ arrival in Virginia.

According to The Washington Times,“The people buried at Douglass Cemetery played an important role in the building of Alexandria and they shouldn’t be forgotten,” Griffin said.

Griffin and his troop, Troop 4077, dedicated the new sign Thursday at the cemetery, where members of the community and city officials gathered to watch the ceremony.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

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