African American Burial Grounds Oral History Project

The African American Burial Ground & Remembering Project (AABG) is an ongoing USF research study which addresses the erasure of historic Black cemeteries in the Tampa Bay area. Launched in 2020 with the award of a USF Research grant, it consists of faculty, staff, and students from multiple disciplines across USF St. Pete and Tampa campuses. The project focuses on activities to identify, interpret, preserve, record, and memorialize previously unmarked, erased, abandoned, and underfunded African American burial grounds in Florida, with a focus on Tampa’s Zion Cemetery (located beneath Robles Park Village) and St. Petersburg’s Oaklawn, Evergreen, and Moffett cemeteries (located beneath a Tropicana Field parking lot and I-275). An interactive StoryMaps Exhibit created by Kaleigh Hoyt and a timeline compiled by retired USF Librarian David Shedden are linked in the Related Materials. The timeline, which is updated periodically, covers St. Petersburg’s (FL) Oaklawn, Evergreen, and Moffett cemeteries and the historic African American Gas Plant Community.

Related Materials

Contact

For questions about the African American Burial Ground & Remembering Project, please contact Dr. Antoinette Jackson and explore the USF Heritage Research Lab and the USF Living Heritage Institute.