Taylor Council accepts dedication of marker for historic African American burial section

The Taylor City Council on Jan. 23 received a presentation on a monument recognizing a historic African American burial section at Taylor Cemetery and unanimously accepted an invitation to an unveiling and dedication event scheduled for Feb. 1 at 2 p.m.

The presentation, given by Morgan Cook of the city cemetery staff, explained the marker will identify the general section rather than list individual names because the number of unmarked graves would make a named memorial cost-prohibitive. The city has added a cemetery mapping tool on its website that provides a ‘‘Historic African American section’’ tour and GPS coordinates to help descendants locate graves.

‘‘Three years ago, we kinda started this planning with the Taylor Heritage Society,’’ Morgan Cook said, describing the society’s role in identifying unmarked graves and collecting funding to pay for the monument. Frances Sorrow, a leader of the local preservation group, said volunteer and foundation support made the project possible: ‘‘The 13 members of the board of the Heritage Society . . . voted to pay for it,’’ and a Leah Livingston Foundation grant covered about half the marker cost, Cook said. The city donated the site and dug the foundation; San Gabriel Monuments contributed work on the foundation as well.

Council members and community volunteers described the project as a step to help families find burial sites. One council member said the new online tool allows searches by surname and will display obituary and location information when available. Council discussion noted that older sections remain a work in progress and that staff continue to research and update records.

The council received the presentation and accepted the invitation to the unveiling by voice vote; the motion passed unanimously.

The presentation also included plans for volunteer workshops to clean and level headstones. Cook said an application is pending for a nationwide workshop program that would train volunteers; volunteers have already helped level ‘‘about 175’’ headstones in a limited area, Cook said. The city’s cemetery staff and the Taylor Heritage Society encouraged descendants and community members to attend the Feb. 1 event.

The council did not take additional policy action on cemetery maintenance at the meeting; the acceptance was a reception of the presentation and an invitation to the dedication event.