Roots & Stones: An Afternoon in the Cemetery

Friends of Halfway African American Cemetery’s Annual Fundraiser: Come see the changes since last year! Plus silent auction, cemetery tours, refreshments, and more!

Please join on Saturday, Oct. 3 (rain date: Sunday, Oct. 4) for an afternoon of fun and fellowship at Halfway African American Cemetery, a historic site that was almost lost until cleanup began in 2020. Explore the cemetery, see progress made on important projects in the past year, and learn about plans for the future.

This year they’re raising funds specifically for a Preservation and Site Plan for the cemetery’s future. This professional plan will address issues like headstone repair, placement of stones, landscaping, paths, signage, long-term maintenance, and so on. They’ve received a $10,000 Heritage Fund Grant for this project, through Preservation Maryland, and now they need to match that amount through fundraising.

They’ll have tours, light refreshments, their usual fabulous silent auction, and more! Visit with cemetery descendants, historians, archaeologists, and the board of directors.

Some 400 black citizens of Hagerstown were buried at Halfway between 1897 and 1932. Halfway African American Cemetery invites you to help them restore and preserve this historic African American cemetery, by attending or supporting this event.

Program: 3:00 Start time; bidding on Silent Auction begins

3:30 Cemetery Stories Tour

4:00 Welcome & introductions

4:20 Remarks by Bridgett Jones Smith, Tolson’s Chapel

4:45 Silent Auction bidding closes

4:50 Silent Auction winners announced (Rain date is the following afternoon, Sunday, Oct. 4, same time.)