Weeds and bushes have grown over plots in Greenwood Cemetery, near the Birmingham International Airport. Tombstones are toppled, some have sunk into the ground. A visit this week revealed at least three concrete vaults are partially opened, revealing their contents. One has a skull and spine in clear view. Despite 15 years of effort by a faithful few, no public or private agency has been made accountable for the cemetery, on of the city's oldest black cemeteries and the burial place for three of four girls killed in the 1963 Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing.
Cleanup efforts are at a virtual standstill until it is determined who owns the property.
We're trying to find out who the owner is, but nobody wants to take responsibility. If I had Family out there, I'd be fired up. Instead of a monument to the dead, Greenwood , which sits off Airport Highway, has served as a playground for vandals, Amos said. That could be a beautiful, historical place. Though it has graves dating to the Civil War, its history is difficult to trace.