Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery, African American cemetery in Athens, Georgia, United States

Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery is a burial ground in Athens, Georgia that was founded in 1882 by the Gospel Pilgrim Society. The site has no paved paths but consists of open grassland with weathered headstones showing names and dates of those laid to rest there.

The Gospel Pilgrim Society, an African American burial-insurance lodge, bought 8.25 acres from the estate of blacksmith William P. Talmadge in 1882 for $238.50; the deed names Green Bullock as president. Purchases in 1902 and 1905 brought the grounds to their present size. The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

The name "Gospel Pilgrim" has no known origin, as the sources record. The society behind the cemetery was one of eight African-American orders with 29 lodges in Athens by 1912, about 2,500 members or 75 percent of the adult black population. Visitors can find the graves of quilt maker Harriet Powers, rediscovered in 2005, and Reconstruction legislator Madison Davis.

Visitors should wear sturdy shoes and long pants as the ground is unpaved with grass and vegetation. Using a smartphone to view information and photos about individual graves while walking can help deepen your understanding of the site.

The folk artist Harriet Powers, whose Bible quilts are held by the Smithsonian, is buried here; her grave was rediscovered in 2005. The cemetery also holds Madison Davis, one of two Black former slaves elected to the Georgia House from Clarke County during Reconstruction. Legend says Alfred Richardson lies here too, but no marked grave has been found.