SITE DIRECTORY
To learn more about any of the BCN sites listed below, click “Read more” to view individual site briefs. To search for a specific BCN site, use the search bar below:
Berry Cemetery
BERRY CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1880
ADDITONAL NAMES: Holy Resurrection Cemetery
AFFILIATION(S):
Ozarks Afro-American Heritage Museum
HISTORY:
The Berry Cemetery, also known as Holy Resurrection Cemetery, is an historic African American burial ground; at least 73 individuals, mostly African Americans, have been interred in the cemetery since 1880. The cemetery is located near Ash Grove, a town in southwest Missouri, in the Ozarks region of the U.S. The one-acre cemetery is in a rural setting, on a rise overlooking fields and bordered on three sides by woods. The burial ground itself is a relatively open green space with scattered evergreen and deciduous trees, reached by a dirt track from a paved rural highway.
The Berry Cemetery today contains at least 60 historic grave markers including 25 inscribed head stones, 11 inscribed foot stones, 15 head or foot stones without inscriptions, six concrete markers, and a depression bordered by upright field stones. The cemetery also contains two (or three) stone cairns identified in Berry family oral history as Indigenous burials markers. In addition, in recent years, multiple wooden posts and Orthodox wooden crosses have been placed at previously unmarked graves. Among the historic stone markers, the most common materials are limestone and marble. Gravestone styles include tablet, block, pulpit, cross-vault obelisk, and unshaped fieldstone. Burials are arranged in rows oriented north-south and graves are oriented east-west with headstones at the west end of graves.
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BCN Contact Information:
Dr. Elizabeth Sobel
ESobel@missouristate.edu
FAIRVIEW CEMETERY
FAIRVIEW CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1858
ADDITONAL NAMES: New Hope Cemetery (an expansion of Fairview Cemetery)
AFFILIATION(S):
Clay County African American Legacy
HISTORY:
In 1858, the city of Liberty established Fairview Cemetery. As was common at the time, a “less desirable” area of the cemetery was designated for the burial of those of African descent. In this 6 acre plot of land, there are over 750 confirmed Black people buried but it is estimated that there are over 1,000. Most persons went from cradle to grave in segregation, with the injustice following them into their burial. The cemetery is on a piece of land that slopes from west to east and the segregated burial ground is at the bottom of the incline, backing right up to a creek. Because of this, the land continues to suffer from flooding and erosion, and the secluded area made it a prime target for grave robbing and vandalism. Persons who were enslaved, domestic staff, day laborers, housewives, infants and children, businessmen, war veterans, and more are buried in this hallowed ground. There are some headstones scattered throughout, but most are for more recent burials. While it is likely temporary place markers were left at the time of burial, the majority of the graves are without a headstone. The Black members of the community were essential to building the town of Liberty, and during segregation, they established their own businesses, churches, and the only school in the area available for children of African descent. These individuals are buried in mostly unmarked graves and we are working together as a community to honor them in their final resting place.
BCN Contact Information:
Jaclyn Kaiser
info@libertylegacymemorial.org
Henry Cemetery
HENRY CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1841
ADDITONAL NAMES: None
AFFILIATION(S): None
HISTORY:
The Henry Cemetery is located east of Highway Z, approximately one mile south of the village of Reger in Sullivan County, Missouri. The area in which the Henry Cemetery is located was known as the Main Locust Settlement, noted by several histories as the earliest part of the county to be populated. The Henry Cemetery is on the National Register of Historic Places. It represents some of the pioneer families of Sullivan County. Though no towns or even churches were located near the cemetery during its formation Henry Cemetery is in many ways a community burial ground. The two-acre cemetery contains approximately 200 historic (pre-1955) graves, though several unmarked graves and recent burials are scattered throughout the cemetery. Gravestones within the Henry Cemetery date from 1841 to present day. Henry Cemetery is an example of neighbors banding together to provide for the needs of a community or group. Death is an inevitable part of life, and burial grounds were some of the first permanent markers of early settlement.
Though the slave population was relatively small in Sullivan County, at least two families associated with the cemetery were slaveholders. Robert Henry was born in Franklin County, Missouri. In the 1880 census, Robert Henry (no apparent relation to Thomas Henry) is listed as a single, African American, servant in the household of Joel DeWitt. Robert Henry died in 1883 and has a gravestone over his burial place. Oral tradition is that there are unmarked burials of slaves (or former slaves) in the cemetery. There are future plans to conduct a ground penetration radar survey to locate unmarked burials.
BCN Contact Information:
Glenda Richey
gsrichey@comcast.net
Greenwood Cemetery-St Louis
GREENWOOD CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1874
ADDITONAL NAMES: Greenwood Cemetery Preservation Association
AFFILIATION(S): None
HISTORY:
Greenwood Cemetery was the first Black non-sectarian, commercial burial ground in the St Louis region post-Civil War. It is 31.85 acres with over 50,000 souls interred, including Harriet Scott, freedom suit plaintiff & wife of Dred Scott. Their case went before the U.S. Supreme Court, Dred Scott v. Sandford; Charlton Hunt Tandy, Civil war veteran & activist who assisted the "Exodusters" in their pursuit of a safe & better life; Lucy Delaney, who wrote the 1890s slave narrative, "From the Darkness Cometh the Light". Greenwood Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. Separate and unequal in life as well as in death. Greenwood's history tells the story of those who helped shaped the city of St Louis and received little or no benefit of the city's prosperity.
BCN Contact Information:
Shelley Morris
smorris@greenwoodstl.org
Washington Park Cemetery
WASHINGTON PARK CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1920
LOCATION: Berkley, MO
ADDITIONAL NAMES: None
HISTORY:
Washington Park Cemetery is located in the suburb of Berkeley, Missouri, in St. Louis County founded in 1920 specifically for the final resting place of African Americans. The cemetery is one of the largest Black cemeteries and once most beautiful. Washington Park Cemetery was never just a cemetery, it was a vital part of the African American community. The cemetery sponsored annual events such festivals, food distributions and contained fruit orchards. Like many other Black cemeteries in America Washington Park has suffered from neglect, abuse and mismanagement.
Local interstate 70 in the 1950's, invaded the cemetery by plowing through the middle, which separated Washington Park into 2 parts; the loss of acreage due to airport expansion in the 1970's; the intrusion of the local Metro light rail system into the cemetery in 1990, which resulted in the forced (eminent domain) removal of thousands and thousands of our Black ancestor's remains. Some of the staff hired to work on this removal project mishandled, abused, disrespected and stole human remains. The cemetery has been encroached by a cell phone tower and 6 lighted billboards located inside of cemetery in that towered directly above graves. The billboards created a battle in 2017 between the Washington Park Cemetery - Anti-Desecration League (activists), the billboard company and it's advertisers resulting in a lawsuit being filed in April 2019 for the permanent eradication of the billboards. This lawsuit and battle appeared in national and local media. In July 2020, a settlement was reached and the billboards and structures were permanently removed from the cemetery in August of 2020.
The fight remains to preserve and restore Washington Park Cemetery to its glorious and rightful place and hold its significance into the future
RESOURCE LINKS:
BCN Contact Information:
Ancestral Landmarks Preservation Council
Washington Park Cemetery Anti-Desecration League
wpcadlstl@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/Washington-Park-Cemetery-Anti-Desecration-League-1998850373712486/