MIAMI – A dedication ceremony for the memorial garden and monument at the site of the recently discovered Lemon City Cemetery, where 523 Black people are buried many of who were Bahamian and early founders of Miami will be held on Tuesday, February 15th at, Village Carver 485 NW 71st Street in Miami.
The event will begin with a procession at 9:30 am led by The Progressive Cornet Band directed by Donnie Brown and the Singing Angels directed by Dr. Richard Strachan.
At 10 a.m., Dr. Enid Pinkney, chair of the Lemon City Cemetery Community Corporation, and Alfred Sanchez, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Miami, will speak on the rich history of the Lemon City Cemetery and their work to preserve the memory of many of Miami’s Black pioneers.
In April of 2008 human bones were discovered at the construction site for the YMCA of Greater Miami’s affordable housing project in Miami, Florida. It was found that these bones were from Black people, many of whom were Bahamians, and early founders of Miami.
The City of Miami had no record of a Cemetery being in this location and had given the Developers, Carlisle Development Group and Biscayne Housing, permission to build affordable housing on the land. The controversy resulted in the formation of the Lemon City Cemetery Community Corporation to stop further development of the property and ensure respect for the dead. The Y and the Developers agreed to revise their construction plans and not move the remains to another cemetery. They further agreed to turn the rest of the cemetery which had no construction on it into a memorial garden with a monument to the 523 people buried there and build the additional two planned apartments in another area of the Y’s property.
On February 16, 2010 the Lemon City Cemetery Community Corporation, the Developers and the Y celebrated the Local Historic Designation of the Cemetery which was granted by the City of Miami’s Historic Preservation and Environment Board on November 3, 2009. Over two hundred people attended the program. The Lemon City Cemetery Corporation has applied for a 501c3, sponsored a Charrette to determine plans for the Memorial and Monument and meets on a regular basis to achieve its goals.
