Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery

The gravestone for Samuel F. Harris, whose unofficial studies at the University of Georgia at the turn of the century have inspired efforts to award him a posthumous degree.

with Al Hester 

Saturday, June 20 @ 10:00 am

The African American Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery was founded in 1882 to establish a beautiful and dignified final resting place for Athens’ black residents. The Gospel Pilgrim Society, a social and charitable burial insurance organization, set up the cemetery in East Athens. Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery contains an estimated 3,500 graves on nine beautiful, wooded acres. It has undergone a major rehabilitation to clear out-of-control vegetation and re-establish its well-planned avenues. The cemetery was re-dedicated in October 2008 and is now on the National Register of Historic Places and has also been awarded a Georgia Historical Marker. Gospel Pilgrim is the resting place for many of Athens black leaders. Madison Davis, one of Clarke County’s two African Americans elected to the Georgia Legislature in 1868 during Reconstruction is buried there. Other well known African Americans at Gospel Pilgrim include Professor Samuel Harris, a leading educator; William Pledger, black editor and orator; and Pope Ray, a homeless African American, whose plot and marker were donated by Athens residents, white and black. This tour will last approximately one hour.

Your tour guide:

Al Hester is the head of the history and research committee for the Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery project, under the supervision of the East Athens Development Corp., Inc. He is Director Emeritus of the Cox International Center for Mass Communication Training and Research at the University of Georgia and a former professor and department head of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Hester has lived in Athens since 1971 and has been active in the Gospel Pilgrim project following his retirement from the University. He and his wife, Conoly, were co-authors of the book Athens, Georgia: Celebrating 200 Years at the Millennium.