Right off a busy road in Richmond, Staten Island, is a quiet park with a deep history.

Frederick Douglass Memorial Park opened in 1935 as an African American cemetery and pays tribute to Douglass, a prominent leader in the civil rights movement in the 19th century.

A funeral director from Harlem established in response to discrimination Black people faced after death.

“There were maybe one or two cemeteries that would allow black people to be buried kind of where they wanted, but not necessarily. So you’d be near the highway or, you know, in the most undesirable sections,” Brandon Stradford, the president of the board of directors for the park, said.

About 60,000 people are buried at the site, and it is still an active cemetery.

The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission is currently reviewing its cultural significance and may designate it as a landmark.

“There’s a lot of history here. A whole lot. You know, you have former slaves buried here, ex-sharecroppers, a lot of people that came up here from the Great Migration, you know, from the south, they’re here,” Stradford said.

According to Stratford, the board has worked to improve the cemetery grounds after they fell into disrepair.

Landmark designation would spark interest among organizations to help further improve the cemetery.

“Will allow us to gradually take those steps to be recognized by the state as a historic site and then eventually get national recognition, which is all huge. And there are a lot of them. There are a lot of people who would or organizations that would invest in something like this. They just need to know that it exists,” he said.

The commission will make the final vote on Tuesday.  

Stratford said a “yes” vote will help properly honor the lives of those buried at the site.

“There’s a story, a story to be told. And I want to get this going to keep the legacy of this place, keep the importance intact, keep the stories alive,” he said.