DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Candles lit the evening sky on Friday as community members gathered at Legacy Park to honor the 33 lives recently uncovered during construction at the park.
City officials announced the discovery of the unmarked graves earlier this month after a construction crew working on a new trail struck a burial vault in May.
Following the discovery, the state conducted a scan of the property, revealing additional burial sites.
“All we know is 22 were children, one is an adult, 8 infants, and there were two cremations,” said Ashley McKenzie, the founder of Say Their Name Monuments. “We don’t know who they are, we don’t know their ages.”
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The discovery has drawn concern and action from community groups, including hers and Street Groomers, who gathered Friday to pay tribute and call for answers.
“We do a lot of community work, and we wanted to know who those 33 lives were and see if we can do a memorial and some type of monument for them,” McKenzie said.
The Legacy Park property was once home to a Methodist group orphanage established for children left without families after the Civil War.
The facility operated for more than 140 years before the City of Decatur purchased the land in 2017.
“History being ignored, history being erased, history being buried and silent,” said L.A. Pink, president of Street Groomers, during the vigil.
The only marked grave on the property belongs to the orphanage’s founder, a Methodist minister named Rev. Jessie Boring. But those who gathered on Friday say that is not enough.
“We are the voice for the voiceless,” Pink added.
City leaders say they are working on plans for a potential memorial and are remapping the trail project to avoid disturbing the burial sites further.
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