Clearwater Colored Cemeteries Society, Inc.

The Clearwater Colored Cemetery (3C) Research Project is being led by the Clearwater Colored Cemeteries (3C) Society, Inc., an organization that was formed by descendants and other community members who are working together to reclaim and honor the memory of the ancestors who were buried in either of the two Clearwater, Florida desecrated and erased Colored Cemetery sites. The donations that are raised here are sent by GoFundMe directly to 3C Society, Inc. and are tax deductible.

Please Help Us Reclaim Our History

The funds raised through this project will be used to help the current Clearwater Colored Cemetery Research Project permanently document the stories of the generations of Black Clearwater family members who were buried in St Matthew or North Greenwood Cemeteries.

In 2023 the 3C Society launched an ongoing research project that has the following goals:

1. Discovering the identities of the more than 1,000 individuals who were laid to rest in either of the two Clearwater Colored Cemetery sites,

2. Using freely accessible genealogical sites to document dynamic profiles of the families of each of those decedents in a manor that reflects burials that occurred across generations as well as the network of linkages between Black Clearwater area family groups,

3. Identifying living relatives of each decedent, producing reports that tell the stories of their ancestors’ lives and reaching out to share that information with those family members,

And

4. Creating permanent documentation to be shared through local and national presentations, museum and historical society displays and additions to archival records to assure that the reclaimed history of Clearwater’s Colored Cemeteries community will never be erased again.

Cemetery History: From 1909 To 1954 Black Burials Were Restricted By Statute To Two ‘Clearwater Colored Cemetery’ Sites, St Matthew Cemetery And North Greenwood Cemetery

In 1909 Clearwater, Florida’s oldest Black church, St Matthew Baptist, developed the only area cemetery that allowed for the burial of Black community members. Despite being primarily referenced on death certificates and other official records by the derogatory term ‘Clearwater Colored Cemetery’, more than an estimated 650 dignified burials for Clearwater’s Black families were conducted at St Matthew Cemetery. In 1940, however, pressure from the expansion of an abutting white-only community led city officials to restrict Black burials to a new site that was located several miles away. Burials in the new Clearwater Colored Cemetery site, now known as North Greenwood cemetery, continued until 1954 for at least another 375 Black Clearwater community members.

2025 Marks 70 Years Since Both Cemeteries Were Erased.

Subsequent Archaeology Studies Confirmed Graves Are Now Under Buildings, Parking Lots And A Major Street

At the end of 1954 land developers and city officials made decisions that led to the complete erasure of both cemeteries. Several newspaper articles from that year detail contract signings and other promises that led grieving family members to believe that the more than 1,000 graves of loved ones were being relocated to yet another newly developed segregated burial site, Parklawn cemetery.

Shortly after those relocations were announced Black community members raised concerns that the number of burials that took place at those sites far exceeded the number of graves that officials promised to move. After research found that graves from other erased cemeteries were found in locations across the Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, community members increased pressure on Clearwater officials to take the action needed to determine if bodies were in fact still present at the Clearwater Colored Cemetery sites.

"This is not an isolated story": Forgotten Black cemeteries

uncovered in Florida (60 Minutes)

In response to the concerns raised by community elders the City of Clearwater commissioned two archeological studies in 2020 that confirmed that graves still remained at both sites.

What Have We Accomplished So Far?

Project Startup: One of our 3C Society Board Members expanded her commitment by becoming the research project’s volunteer Project Manager. Through her efforts she obtained a partial list that identified about 540 of the estimated 1,000 3C decedents. She also secured a Florida state grant that allowed the 3C Project to kickstart research in 2024 by contracting with a part time professional genealogist who focuses her efforts on background and living relative research and a community genealogist who focuses her efforts on identifying the decedents who were previously unknown to the project. The Project Manager also expanded the research team by recruiting other experienced genealogist who on a daily basis volunteer to assist in the family background and living relative research efforts.

Phase I (September 2024 - June 2025): The team conducted research that successfully expanded our list of confirmed St Matthew and North Greenwood decedents from 539 to 720 individuals. We have also researched and created the first set of 226 Living Relative Reports.

Phase II (July 2025 - June 2026): The 3C research project anticipates receiving a continuing funding grant that will allow it to renew our contracts with the current part time genealogist. (We’ll post updates on the status of that grant here.)

The $75,000 that is raised during Phase II of the project will be used to expand our team of contracted researchers so we can:

1. Accelerate the process conducting background and living relative research,

2. Document interviews with community elders,

And

3. Create permanent informational materials that will be displayed and archived to assure that the reclaimed history of Clearwater’s Black Community will never be lost to history again.

For more information about how you can become involved with this project visit the 3CSociety website.