Today we’d like to introduce you to Al Beatty, President of Cedar Hill/West Bank Heritage Foundation.
Hi Al, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story? Where you started, and how you got to where you are today? I came to the process of restoring Reaves Chapel through a sense of community need. This historic chapel, built in the mid to late 1800s by formerly enslaved people, had been a fixture of my childhood. This chapel, situated on land donated by Ed Reaves, had long served the Phoenix community, which is now part of Navassa. It was a place of community social gatherings during the Jim Crow era. It served as a spiritual place in our African American community for generations. The ringing of its bell proclaimed special events such as new births or the passing of community members. I grew up participating in Easter Services there. And in 2013– many years after its last active congregation– Reaves Chapel was falling apart. As the abandoned chapel became increasingly unstable, the community started coming together to save it. I am not, and have never been, alone in my commitment to this sacred place.
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