As part of the National Day of Remembrance, members of the Woodlawn Cemetery Project will be holding a cleanup of the 22.5-acre historic property nestled in the heart of D.C.’s Ward 7. Woodlawn is the final resting place of more than 36,000 people who played a role in the shaping of Washington D.C., but the cemetery has not been an active since 1970. Over the years, the site has eroded and become filled with overgrowth, and headstones have been damaged or sunk. Among the well-known individuals buried at Woodlawn are Blanche K. Bruce, born a slave in 1841 and elected to the U.S. Senate in 1875, and John Mercer Langston, U.S. Representative from Virginia and dean of the Howard University Law School from 1869 to 1879. Cleanup is from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday at 4611 Benning Road SE.
