Promoting the preservation and protection of the burial sites, cemeteries, and grave yards in Maryland.
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Membership in the Coalition is open to all individuals, families, students, and organizations interested in the protection of burial sites in the state of Maryland.
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The Office of Cemetery Oversight assists consumers with complaints against cemeteries, crematories, monument dealers and providers of burial goods and services. A written complaint, stating the facts upon which the complaint is based, should be addressed to the Office of Cemetery Oversight at 500 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202.
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Maryland Cemetery
Inventory and Database
Historic African American Cemetery Report
Ground-breaking survey and recommendations from the Maryland Commission on African American History & Culture and the Maryland Historical Trust.
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See speaker presentations from our
2026 Cemetery Conference and Annual Meeting on our YouTube channel.
Maryland General Assembly Unanimously Passes Cemetery Protection Legislation
This year, CPMBS teamed with other advocates to address cemetery issues in the Maryland General Assembly. Without budget or paid staff but with determination, passion, and patience, Maryland Cemetery Legislative Advocates drafted bills that were revised by legislative staff, heard in committees, and ultimately revised to secure a compromise that will improve the future for Maryland burial sites. Victories this year and last were certainly worth years of planning and convincing. Senators and Delegates listened to compelling testimony and put in place a better structure to protect abandoned cemeteries and descendants, even as we recognized that a bill requiring money was not likely to pass in today’s climate.
SB233 provides a process to protect descendant rights and abandoned cemeteries plus direction to courts in case of sale or transfer. It enables government to acquire an abandoned cemetery and convey ownership to descendants or a nonprofit that will properly maintain and protect it.
CPMBS appreciates the sponsors and fighters for these bills. With initiation of a Comprehensive Inventory and Database of all Maryland Cemeteries and creation of a fund for Abandoned cemeteries, this is true progress. Please thank your legislators as you see them in your community and let us know if you can help out when we return to Annapolis for the 2027 Maryland General Assembly session. Read SB233 in final detail here. Note that Governor Moore signed it on May 12, and the Act goes into effect on October 1, 2026.
The Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites (CPMBS) is a state-wide nonprofit organization of volunteers dedicated to protecting and preserving historic Maryland cemeteries that have too often been neglected, not maintained, unprotected, and the victims of expediency and exploitation by persons seeking a short-term economic or personal goal. The Coalition recognizes that many burial sites are established through a purchased right of burial that is protected by the laws of Maryland, with such right passing on to the relatives of the deceased, and which right cannot lawfully be abridged by others at will. These beliefs led individuals to incorporate a group in 1992 that would address concerns not covered by existing laws and organizations. Our members appreciate the importance of burial sites as hallowed grounds, irreplaceable cultural resources, and sources of valuable genealogical data often found nowhere else. Membership in the Coalition is open to Marylanders and others who care about their heritage and their ancestors. Learn more by reading About Us.
Family Fights for Preservation of Family Cemetery
Berlin, Md. – Underneath the tree shade at a clearing off of Stephen Decatur Highway lie about 53 graves of enslaved and formerly enslaves members of the Purnell family.
“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for these people. I wouldn’t be here. And I’m fighting to fight for them because they can’t fight for themselves,” 72-year-old landscape contractor and Salisbury resident Bobby Purnell said.
Originally purchased in 1866 by Purnell’s five-times-removed great grandfather, the cemetery is part of a long and complicated family history. Now, Purnell says the cemetery is in danger of being disturbed by a proposed development for a cable landing project near the West Ocean City airport.
71-year old subcontractor Alavontine “Al” Showell is Purnell’s first cousin, twice removed. He has been working with Purnell to preserve and restore the cemetery. After raising funds and working with a local museum, Purnell says he commissioned an archeologist who, with radar technology, located 53 bodies. Purnell said the discovery revealed over 30 more graves than they had originally thought to have been there.
“They could destroy the grave site if we don’t say something about it,” Showell said.
Patrick Purnell, another cousin of Purnell, lives in Montgomery County, Pa. as an appliance store owner.
“It’s not just because it’s my relatives,” Patrick said in a phone interview with WMDT. “It’s a moral issue and they should not be disturbed.”
Purnell, Patrick and Al Sowell all said the preservation of the cemetery was more than just preserving their family history, but also about allowing future generations to learn from it. Both Purnell and Showell said they worry the work done to uncover the identities of those buried will be lost if the knowledge isn’t passed on to a new generation.
“I’m 72,” Purnell said. “If something happens to me, that’s it.”
Worcester County Commissioner Eric Fiori (District 3) is hosting a Town Hall on Thursday Stephen Decatur High School at 6 p.m. where the community can question the cable landing developer, Globalinx. Representatives from the Worcester County Environmental Program and Planning & Zoning are also set to attend and “help interpret the information the county has received so far.”
Worcester County Commissioner Diana Purnell, who’s husband Gabe is a member of the Purnell family who’s ancestors are buried in the cemetery, said that Thursday’s town hall will provide much needed clarity.
“”I’m looking forward to going to see what everyone has to say,” she told WMDT in a phone call. “We really need to see what’s going on and get all the information because this is a major decision.”
Source: https://www.wmdt.com/2026/05/exclusive-family-fights-for-preservation-of-family-cemetery/
Six Graves Discovered In St. Charles Development Recommended For Historic Landmark Status
ST. CHARLES, Md. — A small unmarked burial ground discovered during construction work in St. Charles could soon receive official local historic landmark protection after the Charles County Planning Commission voted Monday, May 18, to recommend approval to the Board of County Commissioners.
The Hopewell Burial Ground, located within the Parklands neighborhood in St. Charles, was unexpectedly discovered June 15, 2021, during gravel mining operations on the property. County officials said the find was not identified during an earlier archaeological review completed in 2016.
According to county archaeologist Esther Doyle Reed, investigators later determined the burial ground originally contained six individuals buried in three rows across an area measuring roughly 30 by 40 feet. Archaeologists believe the cemetery likely served as a small family burial ground connected to families who once owned the land, including the Hopewell, Boswell and Tucker families.
“The shovel test pits fell even between the graves,” Reed explained during the Planning Commission meeting, describing how the original archaeological review missed the site before construction activity later disturbed several burials.
Maryland Unveils Memorial for Hundreds of Black Boys Buried in Unmarked Graves
The state is launching a deeper search into a former Black reform school where more than 200 children may have been buried after suffering abuse.
Maryland is confronting a brutal chapter in its history.
Officials have now marked a massive unmarked grave at the former House of Reformation for Colored Boys; the segregation-era institution had a long history of abusing Black children and burying them on the site.
The existence of the burial ground was publicly announced in July 2025, though the facility’s violent past was an open secret for decades.
The site, now part of the Cheltenham Youth Detention Facility in Prince George’s County, is believed to hold the remains of at least 230 boys, some as young as 5 years old, according to WTOP. The state acknowledged the graves in a first-of-its-kind ceremony on Wednesday.
The community effort to preserve a historic Black cemetery in Maryland’s capital
Brewer Hill Cemetery has fallen on hard times. Next door, the Annapolis National Cemetery remains pristine.
When Briayna Cuffie takes people on a tour of Brewer Hill Cemetery near downtown Annapolis, she reminds them to wear sturdy shoes.
The ground is uneven, the landscaping overgrown. And hidden among the brush, in places, are gravestones that have gone untended so long they’ve sunk into the ground or fallen over.
Just next door, the perfectly manicured, professionally maintained Annapolis National Cemetery is a sharp contrast.
“In the most candid way, it’s a slap in the face,” Cuffie said. “It is also a visual reminder of how America has always felt about Black people.”
Cuffie, a federal employee who used to work for Historic Annapolis, has played a major role in recent efforts to increase interest in Brewer Hill Cemetery, which sits along busy West Street on the edge of downtown Annapolis. A descendant of people who are buried there, Cuffie grew up in the area. She said she’s always known the cemetery to be overgrown.
“No matter how far we’ve come legally, there are still stark reminders, on one of the main thoroughfares of the entire city, of how the city, the county, the state, the country, feels about Black people,” she said.
The cemetery is steeped in local and national history. But like other historic — and predominantly nonwhite — cemeteries across the state, it’s at risk of falling further into disrepair.
Reginald Harris Sr., the president of the Brewer Cemetery Hill Association, said it’s “an old cliché,” but in order to know where you’re going, you have to know where you came from — so it’s important to preserve the cemetery’s local history.
“These people sacrificed a lot,” he said. “It’s our duty to maintain it in a fashion that’s deserving of our ancestors.”
Read the entire article here.
Cody Boteler
The Baltimore Banner
1/12/2026
Salisbury’s Parsons Cemetery gains distinction as arboretum.
Parsons Cemetery has announced a new distinction for the site steeped in history — it’s now also an accredited Level-1 arboretum.
ArbNet, an interactive community of arboreta and tree professionals, bestowed the distinction on Parsons Cemetery, making it one of only four accredited arboreta on Delmarva, according to a Parsons release.
“Recently, we mapped and identified all the trees and shrubs in Parsons Cemetery and were amazed to discover that we had a wide and diverse variety of tree and shrub species,” the release states.
In April 2011, The Morton Arboretum launched ArbNet and Arbnet.org to support the common purposes and interests of tree-focused public gardens. Since its inception, ArbNet has accredited more than 700 arboreta, across 42 countries.
Parsons recently added 32 addition trees to its grounds with grants from the Chesapeake Bay Trust and the City of Salisbury.
Visitor can take in the greenery at with the “Woody Flora of Parsons Cemetery” walking tour, one of four offered at the Salisbury site.
Parsons Cemetery is also looking for sponsors for the arboretum to raise the funds necessary to tag the trees in the cemetery and create informational kiosks.
Keith Demko
Salisbury Daily Times
Jan. 9, 2026, 5:07 a.m. ET
Report on Statewide Cemetery Inventory and Database
A high-level Workgroup — charged by the Maryland General Assembly to study creation of a Maryland Inventory and Database of Cemeteries and Burial Sites and having met frequently since July 2025 — submitted its report to the Governor and General Assembly on December 1, 2025. This document, which includes recommendations for action and generated public comment this fall, can be found here.
Maryland Returns Historic Cemetery Land to Descendants of Morningstar Tabernacle No. 88
CABIN JOHN, Md. — October 30, 2025 — In a landmark action six decades in the making, the Maryland Board of Public Works has approved the return of cemetery land to the descendants of Morningstar Tabernacle No. 88 in Cabin John, Maryland.
The action, approved on October 22, returns a portion of Maryland state highway land along the I-495 Capital Beltway right-of-way to the Morningstar Tabernacle No. 88 Moses Cemetery and Hall, long recognized as sacred ground for generations of African American families in the region. Once taken by eminent domain in the early 1960s for construction of the Capital Beltway, the restored parcel—less than a quarter-acre—may hold as many as 26 unmarked graves of those buried at Morningstar Moses Cemetery.
“This important action by the state of Maryland not only helps restore sacred land historically connected to the cemetery but also affirms the cultural and ancestral significance of Morningstar’s legacy,” said Shannon Steward, descendant and Friends of Moses Hall board member.
Say My Name Memorial, Crownsville
The Say My Name Memorial, dedicated on September 4, 2025, is inscribed with the names of those once identified only by numbers, and stands as a solemn recognition of their humanity, their dignity, and their rightful place in our collective memory. This project restores the identities of those buried in the Crownsville cemetery between 1912 and 1965 during an era of Jim Crow segregation and neglect.
This was conceived by the Friends of Crownsville Hospital Patient Cemetery and is a core element of Crownsville Hospital Memorial Park, an initiative led by Anne Arundel County to honor the lives impacted by the institution’s complex legacy and promote healing, education, and reflection.
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We invite all members and friends to contribute to our Coalition Courier newsletter by submitting articles, photographs, or personal reflections that highlight their experiences, insights, or community involvement. Whether it’s a recent event, a cemetery project they’re passionate about, or a story that deserves to be shared, we’d love to include it. Photos capturing special moments or milestones are also welcomed. Please send your submissions to mail@cpmbs.org. Your contributions help make our newsletter vibrant, engaging, and a true reflection of our shared community.
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Applications for Trader Foundation Grants are due on July 1, 2026
The Trader Foundation for Maryland Burial Sites provides financial assistance for worthy projects to rejuvenate endangered historic Maryland cemeteries. The Foundation invites applications for grants up to $3,000 to qualified parties. Application deadlines are January 1 and July 1 of each year.
The project or program must benefit a specific burial ground in Maryland, and Trader funds must be matched by the grantee in cash or in kind. Examples of eligible projects include rescue of an endangered site, gravestone conservation or restoration, documentation, protection of burial site from desecration by nature or by man, cemetery clean-up, and planning for restoration. For further information and the application form, click here.