HALTOM CITY HONORS HISTORY THROUGH JUNETEENTH FIND-A-GRAVE LEGACY PROJECT. From Freedom Delayed to History Reclaimed.

HALTOM CITY HONORS HISTORY THROUGH JUNETEENTH FIND-A-GRAVE LEGACY PROJECT. From Freedom Delayed to History Reclaimed. 

By Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr., New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church of Fort Worth, Texas 76104. 

HALTOM CITY, Texas — In a powerful act of remembrance, preservation, and historical recognition, the City Council of Haltom City has officially commended the Juneteenth Find-A-Grave Legacy Project at Historic Fretwell Cemetery–New Trinity Cemetery within the People’s Memorial Burial Park and proclaimed June 20, 2026, as Juneteenth Find-A-Grave Legacy Project Day in Haltom City.

The resolution represents more than a ceremonial proclamation. It reflects a growing national movement to preserve African-American history, honor those whose stories have too often been overlooked, and ensure that future generations understand both the cost of freedom and the importance of remembrance.

Located in the heart of North Texas, Historic Fretwell Cemetery–New Trinity Cemetery stands as one of the region’s most significant African-American burial grounds. The cemetery serves as the final resting place of more than 7,700 Black pioneers, educators, clergy, business owners, civic leaders, homemakers, military veterans, and community builders whose lives helped shape Texas and the United States.

For nearly 140 years, the cemetery has preserved the stories, sacrifices, achievements, and legacies of generations of African-American families throughout Tarrant County. City leaders described the sacred ground as a lasting testament to resilience, faith, service, and perseverance.

Among those honored are more than 500 military veterans interred within the cemetery, including members of segregated military units whose courage and sacrifice helped secure freedoms enjoyed by later generations. The resolution specifically recognizes Florence Marie Cole Rawls, a member of the legendary 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, known as the “Six Triple Eight,” the only all-Black, all-female U.S. Army battalion deployed overseas during World War II. Her unit was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2025.

The Juneteenth Find-A-Grave Legacy Project was praised as a historic effort to digitally map, photograph, document, preserve, and restore thousands of gravesites, ensuring that descendants, researchers, educators, historians, and future generations may access and honor these invaluable records. Organizers believe the effort will become one of the largest community-led cemetery documentation projects in Texas history.

The project has united a remarkable coalition of partners, including the City of Haltom City, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church of Fort Worth, the Texas Buffalo Soldiers Association, the Ministers Justice Coalition of Texas, historians, genealogists, veterans organizations, faith leaders, and community volunteers. More than 150 volunteers are expected to participate in the effort.

The resolution also recognizes 2026 as a year of historic milestones, marking both the 140th Anniversary of the Fretwell Legacy (1886–2026) and the Centennial Anniversary of Baker Funeral Home (1926–2026), institutions that have faithfully served African-American families with dignity and care for generations.

Yet the significance of the project extends beyond the cemetery gates.

Across the nation, historians, educators, and community leaders are reshaping how Americans understand Juneteenth. Once viewed primarily as a Texas celebration, Juneteenth is increasingly recognized as one of the defining milestones in the American struggle for freedom and civil rights.

Recent scholarship has highlighted the direct connection between Juneteenth and President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Historians note that newly freed Texans understood Juneteenth not merely as the arrival of Union troops, but as the long-awaited enforcement of the promise of freedom contained within the Emancipation Proclamation itself. Major General Gordon Granger’s General Order No. 3 explicitly referenced that promise, declaring the end of slavery in Texas and affirming “absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property” between former masters and enslaved people.

Researchers have also uncovered additional evidence regarding some of the earliest Juneteenth celebrations. Historical records show that by 1866, nearly 4,000 African Americans gathered in Houston to commemorate freedom, demonstrating how quickly Juneteenth evolved from small church observances into organized public celebrations of citizenship, education, voting rights, and equal opportunity.

The growing national recognition of Juneteenth is perhaps best exemplified in Fort Worth, where the National Juneteenth Museum continues to advance its development in the Historic Southside. Working alongside community partners, cultural institutions, and historians, the museum seeks to preserve and share the story of freedom while educating future generations about the continuing pursuit of justice and equality.

The movement has also been inspired by the tireless efforts of Fort Worth resident Opal Lee, widely known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth.” Her annual 2.5-mile Walk for Freedom symbolizes the two-and-a-half years it took for news of emancipation to reach enslaved Texans after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. What began as a local walk has grown into a national movement promoting remembrance, unity, and civic engagement.

Across America, states are likewise revisiting overlooked chapters of their own histories, uncovering stories of abolitionists, freedom seekers, veterans, educators, and community builders whose contributions were often excluded from traditional historical narratives.

The Juneteenth Find-A-Grave Legacy Project embodies that same spirit.

By documenting graves, restoring markers, preserving records, and reconnecting families with their ancestors, volunteers are doing more than maintaining a cemetery. They are preserving a living archive of American history. Every grave tells a story. Every name represents a life. Every life contributes to the larger story of freedom, faith, service, sacrifice, and perseverance.

In adopting the resolution, the Haltom City Council formally commended the Juneteenth Find-A-Grave Legacy Project for its extraordinary efforts to preserve, document, and celebrate African-American history and heritage. The Council expressed appreciation to the volunteers, churches, veterans groups, historians, genealogists, and civic leaders whose dedication has made the preservation effort possible.

The Council further honored the memory of the more than 7,700 individuals interred at Historic Fretwell Cemetery–New Trinity Cemetery, recognizing their lasting contributions to the growth, strength, and prosperity of Texas and the United States. Special recognition was also extended to Florence Marie Cole Rawls and all military veterans buried within the cemetery for their courage, sacrifice, and commitment to freedom.

By proclaiming June 20, 2026, as Juneteenth Find-A-Grave Legacy Project Day, the City encouraged residents to learn, participate, remember, and honor the stories preserved through this historic undertaking.

The resolution concludes with a commitment by Haltom City to support efforts that preserve local history, promote cultural understanding, strengthen community connections, and ensure that future generations continue to learn from the lives and legacies of those who came before them.

For organizers and volunteers, however, the project is about something even deeper.

It is about historical justice.

It is about genealogy and remembrance.

It is about restoring names that time attempted to erase.

And it is about ensuring that those who helped build Texas and America are never forgotten.

As supporters of the project often say:

“They were buried in silence. We will raise their names.”