Time has weathered the 36 concrete gravestones in a dusty, half-century-old cemetery tucked away in a corner of California's former gold fields. Time has not erased, however, the bigotry of a bygone era carved into the markers.

The dead, both black and white, had been moved from a Gold Rush-era hamlet known as Negro Hill in the 1950s to make way for a reservoir.

The problem is the way the markers continue to identify them almost 60 years later:

"Unknown. Moved from Nigger Hill Cemetery by U.S. Government - 1954."

Now activists are trying to get the markers replaced with ones bearing what they say was the original name, Negro Hill.

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On the Web:

Army Corps of Engineers documents on Negro Hill: http://www.spk.usace.army.mil/NegroHillCemetery.html