D.C. hearing advances case for Paul E. Sloughby Sr. preservation fund to protect historic African American burial grounds

The Committee on Business and Economic Development convened a public hearing March 19, 2025, in the John A. Wilson Building and by Zoom to receive testimony on Bill B26-20, the Historic African American Burial Grounds Preservation Fund Amendment Act of 2025, which would establish the Paul E. Sloughby Sr. Preservation Fund to pay for preservation, protection and maintenance of historic African American cemeteries and burial grounds in the District of Columbia.

Community members, historians and preservation officials urged passage and sustained funding, saying public appropriations, grants and donations should support sites that face erosion, flooding and decades of neglect.

Only four intact historic African American burial grounds remain in the District, witnesses said, and testimony at the hearing described conditions that speakers called urgent. Witnesses represented local preservation organizations, descendant-led volunteer groups and the D.C. Office of Planning. They recounted long familiarity with the sites, described archaeological and archival work, and pushed for a permanent funding stream and clear city stewardship.

Dr. Patricia Carter Sloughby, whose late husband Paul E. Sloughby Sr. is the bill's namesake, testified that her husband "used all that was in his power to help protect those in peaceful sleep from being disturbed," and that his work documented burial grounds and genealogies across the District. Lisa Fager, executive director of the Black Georgetown Foundation, told the…