The Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County is partnering with Atlas Preservation on their 48 State Tour, an initiative to restore America’s cemeteries.
According to a news release, the group hosts gravestone preservation workshops where they teach community volunteers how to clean, repair, and reset tombstones and monuments using safe, preservation-minded techniques.
The 48 State Tour will stop at the Union Benevolent Cemetery on Vine Street on Wednesday, July 12 and will run from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Participants can sign up to take part in the morning, afternoon or all day. Following an introduction and cleaning demonstration, volunteers will clean stones and all materials will be provided. The workshop is free to take part in and there will be lunch provided.
Union Benevolent Cemetery on Vine Street was established in 1866 by the Union Benevolent Society, an organization of newly-freed African Americans just after the conclusion of the Civil War. The group was one of several Black benevolent societies locally and nationally.
Commonly referred to as Vine Street Cemetery, this site is the final resting place of hundreds of local people including dozens of African American veterans of the Civil War.