Sue E Spears
President of the Bethany Cemetery Association of Travis County
Sue E Spears was born in Austin and grew up in the same East Austin neighborhood as Bethany Cemetery, without knowing the cemetery was there. She lived other places as an adult. She came back, and now she is president of the association that looks after it.
The association she leads calls Bethany Austin’s first Black cemetery. The work of keeping it is not one job but eight, and she lists them herself below. She answered these questions in writing in July. Since then, the Austin City Council has approved historic landmark zoning for Bethany Cemetery, and in October she updated her last answer. What follows is hers.
What do you make or do, in plain words?
I make sure that the people buried at Bethany Cemetery are never forgotten. On any given day I am a gardener, historian, tour guide, researcher, preservationist, volunteer coordinator, grant writer, and community advocate. My main goal is to protect the cemetery from neglect and encroachment of development, and that it is respected. I tell the stories of the people buried there by doing research with the help of others to find out as much information as I can to find out who these individuals were.
How did you land in Austin, and why did you stay?
I was born here and grew up in the same neighborhood as Bethany Cemetery, never knowing that it existed. As an adult I lived in other places in the United States, but this is Home.
What is the thing you have made or done here that you are proudest of?
I have advocated for the East Austin community by helping to improve the creeks and watersheds to make them safer as they run through our neighborhoods and parks. Getting the City of Austin to allocate money to help. Now I am working to preserve the history of East Austin that is buried in Austin’s first Black cemetery.
What is one opinion you hold about Austin that most people here would argue with?
That Austin is a progressive city. The liberal reputation is undermined by the economic inequality and racial segregation and displacement of the minority community. Longtime residents and lower income families are being pushed out. While Austin is being celebrated as the up-and-coming new Silicon Valley, it is not welcoming to the average citizen looking for a place to call home.
Where do you actually eat, drink, or hang out? Name real places.
Mr. Catfish on Airport, Whip My Soul restaurant, Victory East.
What would you tell someone who moved here last week?
Truthfully, don’t expect deep-rooted Black culture to still exist in East Austin. You will find a few spots, but it takes deliberate effort. Look to the surrounding suburb areas for social events, meetups.
What are you working on next?
The City of Austin’s Historic Landmark designation was a major milestone for Bethany Cemetery, but our work is far from finished. Recognition is only the beginning; preservation is an ongoing responsibility.
Our next priorities include securing funding to expand our QR-code storytelling project and developing a heritage trail connecting significant gravesites, making Bethany’s history more accessible to visitors while promoting heritage tourism.
We are also seeking partnerships with the City, Travis County, and community organizations to establish a sustainable grounds maintenance plan. Other critical needs include: keep the ground maintained, ground-penetrating radar to help locate unmarked graves, water access, entrance and directional signage, and restoration of damaged grave markers.
Additionally, we will continue monitoring the proposed development adjacent to the cemetery to ensure that the protections established in our restrictive covenant are honored. We have not yet received a confirmed construction timeline.
Our ultimate goal is to move beyond historic recognition to long-term preservation, education, and sustainability. Bethany is more than a cemetery; it is an important part of Austin’s Black history, and we want to ensure its stories remain accessible for generations to come.
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