just west of the Hackensack River on a Sandy 1 acre Hill in Little Ferry sits a small African-American burial ground that was neglected and vandalized for so many years few gravestones and markers remain but the side at more than 160 years old has National historical significance among those buried are formerly enslaved persons and two Civil War veterans the cemetery is now under the care of Bergen County and this Black History Month the public is being invited to visit and pay homage to Black lives Melissa Rose Cooper reports it memorializing life because I look at past Generations we stand on their shoulders so if we stand on their shoulders we should protect them we should recognize them and we should honor them a mission historian Dr Arnold Brown is making sure to achieve here at Gethsemane Cemetery in Little Ferry the cemetery was created in about 1860 just before the Civil War commenced and the reason it was created is because African Americans could not be buried in the white cemeteries here in this particular area hackin so this was created it's a little larger than a 1 acre parcel of land and actually it's a Sand Hill cuz there was nothing but sand all around here that they used to build bricks okay so this is the last Hill that you can see uh that we have sand here Brown spearheaded efforts to make the cemetery a historic sight and restore the ground the cemetery has been vandalized as you can see uh when we first came here we saw that there were fire pits with kids would come and have fires and hang out so to speak and um it was it was in shamble and like I indicated before there were car park Parks especially over here um and over here as an automobile place they just dump their things in there refrigerators and car Parks it it it was it was disgraceful it was a dishonor to our our ancestors all right you can see how the stones are okay laid over how they've been vandalized now nearly 20 years later Bergen County which owns the cemetery is inviting the public to learn about its historical significance in honor of Black History Month this is not just a cemetery where people are buried this is a cemetery that is telling us a lot about our history here in Bergen County and I think that is what makes this Cemetery the most important thing and the fact that we still have people alive um such as Arnold Brown Dr Arnold Brown that you will hear from who was important in making this happen this was a Potter's field it was something it was an area where people just tended to throw their junk when they didn't want it and uh we cleaned it up we put the fence around it we do programming roughly 500 people are documented as being buried here among them are formerly enslaved people local business owners and two Civil War veterans and these panels posted throughout the cemetery will allow visitors to learn more about them this is hallow ground is a ground that we all should honor and protect at all costs and we hope the county who has acquired title of it and has the ability to take care of it uh so we are satisfied that this Cemetery will be preserved for many many years the self-guided tours at Gethsemane Cemetery will be available Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 2: p.m. for NJ Spotlight news I'm Melissa Rose Cooper