A local organization is trying to preserve a long forgotten cemetery, Linwood near downtown Macon and part of this preservation effort has ties to Macon’s black history.

The Macon Cemetery Preservation Corporation is working in the Pleasant Hill neighborhood’s Linwood Cemetery, hoping to preserve the resting place where so many history makers now reside.

Linwood Cemetery is the resting place for several notable African Americans from Macon, Georgia.
Sometimes it looks abandoned, but the Macon Cemetery Preservation Corporation wants to eliminate that. Organization members explain why, "Because a lot of relatives have passed on. A lot of people have no idea that they have folks here." Yolanda Latimore, better known as "Y-O" to many, says the 34 acre cemetery is a history book, telling the story of the climb of African Americans in Macon.

A well-kept family plot stands out in the cemetery. It belongs to the Hartley-Mosley family.

"She was a prominent businesswoman who most of all was a nurse and she was into health care," adds Latimore. She's referring to Ruth Hartley-Mosley, who was a local leader during the civil rights movement.


Mosley was the wife of a mortician, which likely explains why her plot is so well taken care of. "It’s one of the most beautiful and well-kept plots out here. The only records we have of someone leaving perpetual care for their cemetery lot is on Ruth Hartley Mosley," says Latimore.

Mosley didn't only leave a trust for gravesite care, she also created a trust to pay for the care of her home on Spring Street, which she donated to the city as a women's center.

As her burial site continues to be kept in impeccable shape, local activists want the entire cemetery to meet the Hartley- Moseley standard.

"As Macon cemetery Preservation Corporation we would like to have perpetual care, creating a perpetual trust fund,” says Y-O. “You know, years and years after were gone it can still be maintained and taken care of."

As a part of black history month, the Macon cemetery Preservation Corporation will be going to the cemetery every Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. until noon for clean-up.

They encourage volunteers to come out and help them preserve one of Macon’s historic landmarks.

To volunteer you can contact Macon Cemetery Preservation Corporation President, Alice Jackson.

(478) 746- 0589