CINCINNATI — Records uncovered at an area church could connect families to their roots. The records go back to the 1800s in a historically Black cemetery in Cincinnati. 

What You Need To Know

  • Inside Union Baptist Church in Cincinnati holds an estimated 50,000 historical records that are tied to the church's cemetery 

  • The Union Baptist Cemetery has been overgrown and vandalized over the years, making it difficult to find people who may be buried in the historically Black cemetery 

  • The church has been trying to restore the cemetery and church volunteers, pastors and historians are trying to find family members through the historic records 

A silent space in an unmarked grave holds Louise Stevenson’s family history.

“It’s very hard to identify where graves are...I remember Grandpa who he’s buried next to,” said Stevenson.

Her great-grandfather, a former enslaved man turned World War I soldier, is buried at the Union Baptist Cemetery in Cincinnati.

“You cannot allow your family to die, and the things that they have done to get you where you are, you just can't do that,” said Stevenson.

However, for hundreds of others buried here, that history lies under debris, is sunken into the ground, knocked over and constantly vandalized.

Spectrum News reported on Union Baptist church’s years-long effort to restore it, but inside a small room at the church, you’ll find records almost 200-years-old.

“Remember that during that time, African-Americans were not allowed to be buried in White cemeteries, many of them were buried in Potter's Field, where they had open graves for everybody," said Stevenson.

That’s why she made it her mission to help put back the pieces of history once lost in segregation, racism and vandalism.

“Some of these books have information about who died, who buried them, who the next of kin was, what diseases that they had,” said Stevenson.

Based on those records, church volunteers recently discovered dozens of living relatives and there could be more as they continue to research.

“Research through newspapers, research through information that families have given us about the people in their family, we did all of that," said Stevenson.

The church is also working with six nearby churches and a local library to get the records online. It's an effort to try to connect families through history.

“This is a passion, not just for me and only my family, but for everybody's family….it's important for the community to know about the great shoulders that we stand upon," said Stevenson.

Union Baptist Church is planning an informational meeting about their restoration efforts and how you can find family. That meeting will be Thursday, Feb. 22 at the University of Cincinnati's Taft Auditorium starting at 6:30 p.m.