Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

LaFAYETTE — The Essie J. Handy Memorial Cemetery has been a special place in LaFayette for a long time and is even more special today following the dedication of a new gazebo and memorial brick walkway on Thursday. The completion of the project was marked by a 3 p.m. CDT ribbon-cutting ceremony.

A standing-room-only crowd of more than 50 people filled every seat underneath a large tent that was set up near the middle of the cemetery grounds to witness the conclusion of another step forward in making the Handy Cemetery a truly beautiful, serene final resting place for many African-American citizens that made important contributions in helping make LaFayette, Alabama the special place it is.

Located off B Street on the city’s south side, Handy Cemetery didn’t just happen. What’s there now is the end result of lots of hard work and dedication on the part of many people to have a peaceful place of reverence where family members can visit the grave sites of departed loved ones and remember how special they were.

It most likely wouldn’t be here today without the dogged determination on the part of one woman to get it done.  Essie Handy was a respected and admired educator in the community. She and her husband Elisha had come to LaFayette in 1925 and spent the rest of their lives there. When the Handys lost their oldest son Ralph to tuberculosis in 1940, he was buried in the only cemetery at the time where African-Americans could be laid to rest in LaFayette. Knowing there should be a better way, Handy launched a one-woman fund drive to come up with the money to purchase a site for a new cemetery. A local judge had made her an offer to sell her some land in LaFayette for that purpose. Handy succeeded in coming up with the needed money and that was the start of something better.

In the later 1940s, Ralph was moved from his original burial site to the new cemetery.

In reviewing the history of the cemetery, Paulette Morse said that Handy was the kind of person who could get things done. 

“If she’d ask you for a donation and you didn’t have the money, she would ask you again the next week,” she said. “Everyone knew she was doing it for a good reason, and what we see here today is proof of that.”

A historical marker that was unveiled at the gateway to the cemetery in 2018 tells of what Handy meant to the community. She led a prolific life. 

“In 1945 she became the first African-American to vote in Chambers County,” it reads. “She was recognized as a Civil Rights leader in the area. Mrs. Handy met with President Lyndon Johnson and was invited to his inauguration in 1965.”

Handy privately operated the cemetery until her death in 1977. The site is now owned and operated by the City of LaFayette.

Speaking on behalf of the city at the ceremony were Mayor Kenneth Vines, Councilman Michael Ellis (chair of the Cemetery Committee) and Cemetery Superintendent George Green. Also present were City Clerk Louis Davidson and Council Member Toney Thomas. A former member of the council, Charlotte Blasingame, was the program emcee. She’s the executive director of the Essie J. Handy Cemetery Historical Society. 

“I know where we are heading here,” Blasingame said. “If Mrs. Handy were still living, I know we would be soul sisters on this. We both believed in doing the right thing. Members of the committee have accomplished good things while working on this project. We’ve had fun, too. One day I will be laid to rest in Butler County. That’s where my family is from. But I would love to be here. I thank God for having given me the opportunity to work on this project.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Vines said to the sizable crowd seated underneath the big tent with even more standing just outside. “This is a historic day for LaFayette,” he said. “This new gazebo and brick walkway adds to what’s already a special place. I know the Cemetery Committee has done a fantastic job on this. I’m glad to see some of them here today, and I am especially glad to see some members of the Handy family. What’s here now means so much to this city.”

“Anyone who knows me knows how much this city means to me,” Ellis said. “I grew up here. The past two years have been tough for me. I lost both of my parents. It’s so good to have a place like this where I can come and remember them and a lot of other people I knew who meant a lot to me.”

When Cemetery Superintendent George Green walked to the lectern to speak, he received a round of applause from the crowd. 

“To do something right, you have to have a vision,” he said. “That’s true if you are an artist, a builder or someone who takes care of a cemetery. Those of you who are here know what I am talking about if you can remember the way things were here 10 or 12 years ago. We needed to expand, to improve the roads leading through the cemetery and to have an entranceway. The city has been supportive in this. We have a new brick entranceway, new signage, paved roads and an additional 1,200 new grave sites. It’s wonderful this has come about, This new gazebo and brick walkway just tops it off. There’s a total of 2,800 lots here now. It’s such a beautiful, serene place.”

“Thank God, this is such a great day for LaFayette!” said committee member Merilyn Vines, drawing a host of amens from the crowd. “I can remember what it looked like years ago. When I see what it looks like today I am so glad that improvements have been made. The city has done such a good job of building on what Mrs. Handy started.”

A very special guest for the program was Cathy Handy.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” she said. “Thank you all for being here. My daughter and son-in-law, Cathy and Byron Marshall. and my three grandchildren, Byron, Ella and Warren, are here from Baltimore, Maryland. I want to thank Mr. Darryl Seroyer of Silmon & Seroyer Funeral Home for donating the water station for today’s program (it was very much appreciated on a hot, sunny day!) and Merilyn Vines of Vines Funeral Home for the tent, chairs, tables and speaker system. I want to thank all the speakers we have heard from today for their kind words and remembrances. I want to thank the Farmers & Merchants Bank for creating an account for donations to the brick walkway.”

Cathy became emotional when talking about what this day meant to her. 

“This gazebo and brick walkway of remembrance have been a dream of the E.J. Handy Cemetery Association for many years,” she said in words that were hard to come. “We are so excited to see it become a reality. I wish my husband, Al Handy, could have been here to make this speech. As many of you may remember from the dedication of the historical marker in 2018, he was a better speaker than I am. It was through the kindness and generosity of our family and friends at the time of Al’s passing that we were able to provide financial assistance to this project.”

“I hope this gazebo and walkway reminds all of us of Essie Handy’s dedicated service to the people of this community and the City of LaFayette’s commitment to continuing her legacy,” Handy continued. “Mr. Green and his staff have worked tirelessly in the brutal heat to complete the first section of the brick walkway. The next section should be finished around the end of July. Orders for additional memorial bricks are already being placed. Thank you, George, Miss Angela and the Buildings & Grounds crew for your assistance and for really making it happen.”