DIGGING FOR DIGNITY: Legacy Project Helps 92-Year-Old Retired School Teacher Mother June Ester Slater Reconnect With Her Grandmother.
DIGGING FOR DIGNITY: Legacy Project Helps 92-Year-Old Retired School Teacher Mother June Ester Slater Reconnect With Her Grandmother.
Reclaiming the Names From Our Ancestors’ Remains. CBS News: Digging for Dignity:
FORT WORTH, Texas — Sometimes the greatest treasures are not buried in the ground—they are buried in our memories, waiting to be rediscovered.
Just weeks after celebrating her 92nd birthday on June 3, Mother June Ester Thomas Slater, a beloved retired school teacher and Mother of New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Worth, received an unexpected and deeply meaningful birthday gift through the Digging for Dignity: Juneteenth Find-A-Grave Legacy Project.
While discussing the project with Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr., the conversation turned to family history and the importance of reconnecting generations. Pastor Tatum opened the Find-A-Grave database and searched for Mother Slater’s family.
Within moments, the name appeared:
Sarah C. Thomas
Born: 1880
Died: 1962
The discovery revealed the burial location of Mother Slater’s grandmother at the historic Fretwell Cemetery–New Trinity Cemetery at People’s Memorial Park in Haltom City, Texas.
For Mother Slater, the moment was more than genealogy. It was a reconnection to her family legacy, a reminder that those who came before us still have stories to tell.
What made the discovery even more meaningful was the realization that Mother Slater’s father is buried beside his mother, Sarah C. Thomas. Over the years, the family had lost track of the exact location of their gravesites. What had once been known had slowly faded with time.
Now, after many years of uncertainty, a 92-year-old daughter is preparing to stand once again at the resting places of both her grandmother and her father.
On Friday, June 26, 2026, at 12:00 noon, Pastor Tatum and Mother Slater will travel to People’s Memorial Park and follow the Find-A-Grave record to the actual gravesites. There they will pause to remember, sing, pray, and celebrate family connections that have been renewed across generations.
The experience serves as a powerful reminder of the mission behind the Digging for Dignity Legacy Project:
Every Grave Has a Name.
Every Name Has a Story.
Every Story Deserves to Be Remembered.
Every Stone Has a Song.
The project is helping families reconnect with ancestors whose names have been forgotten, markers have been overlooked, or histories have faded with time. Through research, cemetery mapping, and community engagement, volunteers are working to ensure that the lives of Black pioneers, veterans, educators, laborers, mothers, fathers, and freedom seekers are never lost to history.
“We have a moral obligation to reclaim the names from our ancestors’ remains,” said Pastor Tatum. “When we remember them, we honor them. When we honor them, we strengthen the generations that follow.”
The Digging for Dignity: Juneteenth Find-A-Grave Legacy Project continues to demonstrate that preserving history is not simply about documenting the past—it is about reconnecting, redirecting, and recreating lasting relationships between generations.
For Mother Slater, what began as a simple conversation became a sacred homecoming. At 92 years old, she is being given an opportunity that many families never receive—the chance to stand where her grandmother rests, visit the grave of her father, and reconnect with a chapter of her family’s history that had been lost for decades.
Today, another family story is coming home.
Because Every Stone Has a Song.
And through Digging for Dignity, a daughter is finding her ancestors, a family is reclaiming its history, and a community is remembering those who helped build the foundations upon which we now stand.
DIGGING FOR DIGNITY
Reclaiming the Names From Our Ancestors’ Remains
“They Were Buried in Silence. We Will Raise Their Names.”
Malachi 4:6
“And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.”
Through Digging for Dignity, hearts are being turned once again—one grave, one name, one family, and one song at a time.
For More Information
To learn more about the Digging for Dignity Legacy Project, volunteer, support cemetery restoration efforts, or help reconnect families with their ancestors, contact:
Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr.
Digging for Dignity Legacy Project
New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church
2864 Mississippi Avenue
Fort Worth, Texas 76104
Phone: 817-966-7625
Email: kptatum1@gmail.com
Website: www.newmountrose.com
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