A wealth of history can be found in Marietta, but much of it has been buried, forgotten or overlooked. Now a group of volunteers is working to bring that heritage into the spotlight.

The Marietta African American Legacy Initiative (MAALI) Team invites the public to a dedication and commemoration ceremony to honor the heritage of Bethel AME Church and Wesley AME Zion Cemetery and the people who worshipped and are buried there. The ceremony will be held at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1290 River Road, Marietta, on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 1 p.m.

"We are going to be focusing on four themes," said Michael Sweeney, who gathered the people who comprise the MAALI Team. "The program will cover the church burnings, the veterans who are buried in the cemeteries, the Colored School and the Colored Camp Meetings."

As Sweeney explained, on April 19, 1861, both of the African American churches in Marietta were set on fire. Bethel AME burned completely to the ground, while Wesley AME Zion was damaged but later repaired. Just over a year later, Wesley AME Zion and the Colored School (also known as the African School) as well as a home on the property were destroyed by fire.

He noted that about 35 Civil War, World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans are buried in the cemeteries, including his father, but their history has been hidden.

For years, the property containing the Wesley AME Zion cemetery was abandoned, falling into disrepair.

In the early 1990s, two local women, Catherine Tucker and Thelma Mae Waters, received a grant to restore the space but couldn't prove the property was officially abandoned.

Not content to let this history disappear, Tina Charles worked diligently to find the proof, and she succeeded.

Now Sweeney and the other members of the MAALI Team are eager to finish what Tucker and Waters started.

"What that generation was unable to do, we're making progress to fulfill their vision," Sweeney said. "Our goal is not only to preserve and honor the history of these churches, cemeteries and communities, but also to make that history accessible to future generations."

The MAALI Team has installed four commemorative markers, two at Bethel AME Church and its cemetery and two at Wesley AME Zion Cemetery. Each marker includes information and a QR code linking to a website where visitors can learn more about the history and significance of the sites.

At the dedication ceremony, the program will touch on the Colored School, a painful reminder of racial segregation in the region, as well as Colored Camp Meetings, where upward of 5,000 people gathered just outside of Marietta between 1908 and 1913.

Sweeney also wants to highlight women in ministry, including Rev. Charley Thomas, the current pastor at Wesley AME.

That church has its own rich history. Jarena Lee, the first woman preacher in the AME Church and the first Black woman to publish an autobiography, preached at the site, Sweeney said.

To build his MAALI Team, Sweeney recruited volunteers who care as deeply about Marietta's past as he does. The members said the project has opened their eyes to a history they didn't know.

John Jenkins worked for years at what is now GSK in Marietta.

"I would walk to work, never realizing that part of the lot I walked by was the Black cemetery in disrepair," he said.

Lynn Jenkins said learning about the site was emotional.

"There are human remains there that should be respected," she said. "That was a big draw for me in helping with this project. When you pass that corner, there are Black people buried there, and everyone should know that."

The MAALI Team has spent countless hours repairing the Wesley AME Cemetery.

"When we first got there, the area was in really bad shape," said Charles Dorm. "There was junk everywhere. We assessed it and started manually cleaning it out."

The group cut down trees, planted grass, straightened tombstones, excavated and even used ground-penetrating radar to locate unmarked graves.

Work is still ongoing, and the team noted that many local individuals and businesses have contributed to the project, including Jones Landscaping, Shull's Tree Service and the African American Historical Society of South Central Pennsylvania. Columbia Water Co. donated its services to the project as well.

Jeff Hudson, a retired history teacher and former vice president of Marietta Borough Council, has been instrumental in helping, as has Andre Dominguez, a retired mechanical engineer who helped with cemetery conservation, among other contributions, and Rick Evans, who has also helped with the project.

"We want to thank the entire community for their help with this," Sweeney said, noting that the project is under its $23,750 budget thanks to donations of time and funds. "Even when we're out there working, people will blow their horns in support, and we appreciate that. We want our history to stand with the rest of the local history, not above and not below, but with it."

Light refreshments will be served at the commemoration ceremony, and the building is handicapped-accessible. For more information on the project, visit http://www.lancasterhistory.org/learn/learning-tools/aah-markers.