The beauty and importance of Serenity Farms

I had the good fortune to be part of a group that spent several hours this past weekend working to spruce up the Serenity Farms Historic Burial Grounds. The site was discovered in 2012 and archaeologists excavated and researched to determine that the occupants of these unmarked graves were all likely enslaved people of African descent who lived and worked on the farm and were buried between 1790 and 1810.

In deference to the dignity and respect these individuals are owed, an effort is made to maintain their resting place as one of peace and natural beauty. I, along with some other members of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Chesapeake (the UUCC) and some friends, had an opportunity to help in that endeavor this weekend. A small band of eager UU landscapers arrived on Saturday morning with rakes in hand. The folks over at Serenity Farms had already mowed the overgrown summer grass. We set to work right away raking up the cut grass and moving it to compost. We pruned some out-of-place growth on the decorative shrubbery and weed-wacked around the grave-markers so that they could be clearly noticed. Although our task was somber, our work was joyous. We joked, laughed, and even carried a tune. The result was a remarkable improvement. In just a few short hours we had made great progress in giving Serenity Farms Historic Burial Grounds the serenity of its namesake.

It’s often difficult to wrap one’s head around the routine horrors of America’s history of chattel slavery. The people whose graves we attended this weekend lived under such oppression I cannot imagine, and then were laid to rest and forgotten. If their graves were ever marked, the markers were soon swallowed by their surroundings, as invisible in death as they were in life. But now, over two hundred years later, one skull was found prompting an inquiry. The excavation that came as a result saw the discovery of 23 remains. Several remains were exhumed, their bones and possessions meticulously poured over, searching for information about the way enslaved people of the Patuxent area lived. Hoping that science can afford us the ability to today hear the voices that our society worked so hard to silence all those years ago.

Once the studies and examinations were complete, all the remains and artifacts were carefully reinterred at the exact spot they were found, with a religious ceremony and granite markers for future observance. I find it comforting to know that now, after living under such dehumanization, efforts are made to humanize these people once again. I spent a couple hours with some friends taking the time to show that these 23 individuals have an inherent worth and dignity from which we all, 200 years later, can benefit.

Thanks to Serenity Farms for all that you do for your community. And thanks to the UUCC for inviting me to be a part of such a moving, delightful day. You can read much more about the history and discovery of this historical site at the Serenity Farms website: www.SerenityFarms.com/historic_burial_ground.com.

Elizabeth Demulling, Solomons