Restoring a forgotten legacy: Scouts, community leaders unite to preserve historic Black cemetery

A grave at Champion-Macedonia Cemetery in Lewisville.

A North Texas Girl Scout is spearheading a project to restore the Champion-Macedonia Cemetery, a historic African American burial ground tucked away amid the urban landscape of Lewisville.

Nestled off I-35 in Lewisville, the Champion-Macedonia Cemetery was founded in the 1880s, and the site holds more than 100 graves, some of which date back to the era of slavery. Many of these final resting places remain unmarked.

Victoria Myers, a Girl Scout from Carrollton, has partnered with local leaders and organizations to breathe new life into the cemetery, working to restore the site and commemorate the lives of those who rest within its grounds.

Victoria Myers, right, has partnered with local leaders and organizations to breathe new life into Champion-Macedonia Cemetery in Lewisville.

“One day, me and my mom were watching the news and the cemetery cleanup, usually on MLK Day every year, was on the news,” Myers said. “I had no idea that a slave cemetery was even in Lewisville, in my area or even in Texas, anything like that. And so I thought it was really interesting.”

For her Gold Award project for being a Girl Scout, Myers wanted to make the Champion-Macedonia Cemetery more than just a yearly cleanup and to add things to the cemetery to make it look nice, such as benches, light posts, an archway, fairy lights, black rod iron fencing and informational markers.

Myers’ sponsor for the project, Jacqueline Shaw, said that she’s been working with Myers for over a year now, and worked together to focus their efforts on a way to beautify the cemetery.

“She has helped with getting people out, getting the word out to get organizations and people in businesses out to help clean the cemetery,” Shaw said. “We are all pretty much wanting the same thing — the black rod iron fence around the cemetery, the arch with the Champion-Macedonia cemetery name on it, the historic markers. Those are the things that Victoria is raising money to put in place.”

Local citizens, organizations, and businesses came together to clean up the historic Black Champion-Macedonia Cemetery in Lewisville for the Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023.

Myers set a fundraising goal of $20,000, with the aim to have everything in place for a grand re-opening on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 15, 2024. Myers is hoping to raise the money by October of this year.

“A lot of people have been reaching out saying that they liked my project and that they want to be involved,” Myers said. “Or that this gives them a lot of hope for the families, and unidentified people that they don't know, in their own lineage, and I think that's the most rewarding part — that I've been able to touch people.”

Donations can be made for the project payable to Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas with the memo “For Victoria Myers’ Slave Cemetery Gold Award project.” Checks can be mailed to PO Box 110960, Carrollton, TX, 75011-0960.

Arianna Morrison is a reporter for Star Local Media, covering the communities of The Colony, Little Elm, Carrollton, Lewisville, Flower Mound and Coppell. Email her with story ideas and more at [email protected].

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