FLDOS Zion Cemetery Oral Histories: African American Burial Grounds Oral History Project

Welcome to the public repository for the Zion Cemetery Oral Histories and Genealogical Research Project. The Zion Cemetery Oral Histories and Genealogical Research Project was developed as part of the USF African American Burial Grounds & Remembering Project (AABG) Oral History Project for a grant contract award from the State of Florida Department of State (FLDOS) Abandoned African-American Cemeteries Grant Division (contract #: 24.h.a.c.200.143 awarded to Zion Cemetery Preservation & Maintenance Society, Inc.) in 2024-25. Grant funds were used by USF to conduct research on Zion Cemetery in Tampa Bay and this collection consists of genealogical research on descendant families; burial records/death certificates; oral histories and descendant family interviews; digital poster boards and visual storytelling; and public access to collected data via USF library repositories. The FLDOS Zion Cemetery Oral Histories and Genealogical Research Project was led by Dr. Antoinette Jackson (PI) and included team members: Rue Lynn Galbraith (genealogist); Kaleigh Hoyt, MA & BCN Creative Director (research and visual design), Peter Kyriacou (undergraduate research assistant), and Jordon Myrick (undergraduate research assistant). Support was also provided by the USF Libraries' Special Collections Digital Initiatives team.

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, 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).