I. A. Banks Memorial Park
Site Brief:
Founded: 1960
Location: Lake Worth Beach, FL
Additional name(s): Osborne Municipal Cemetery
Affiliate group(s): N/A
History:
Founded in 1885 by Samuel and Fannie James, a racially mixed couple, believed to be former slaves, staked out a homestead in what is now Lake Worth Beach. They opened the first Post Office and became the financial and social hub of their mostly white community. Americans and Bahamians settled in an unincorporated area between Lake Worth and Lantana, Florida around 1914. In 1926, the Town of Lake Worth annexed the area as the “Osborne Colored Addition”, the only section where Black people were permitted to reside because of Jim Crow segregation laws. Lake Worth’s first cemetery, Pine Crest (est. 1923), only allowed the internment of white residents. Burials of Black people had to take place in Boynton Beach, to the south or West Palm Beach to the north. In 1960, Lake Worth established the 1.5-acre Osborne Municipal Cemetery for “colored” residents. In 1983, residents successfully petitioned the city to rename Osborne Municipal Cemetery the “I. A. Banks Memorial Park” in honor of Reverend I. A. Banks (1890 – 1975), founder and 35yr., pastor of New Hope Baptist Church, located diagonally across the street.
When the original caretaker of I.A. Banks Cemetery, David U. Millines, Sr. (b1932- ) took care of the grounds, there were never signs posted or a need to discuss upkeep of the cemetery. There seemed to be an unwritten rule that the cemetery was off limits for disrespect in any form.
Since then, residents have become distraught over growing crime and vagrancy where graves have been desecrated. The Osborne community appealed to the city commission time and again for approval of funding to surround the site with a fence. Local advocacy organized a peaceful protest in September 2023, where residents from across the city gathered to create a 'human chain' holding hands around the cemetery, chanting "rest in peace". Through the efforts of residents and Lake Worth Beach District 1 Commissioner Sarah Malega, the budget was finally approved in May 2024.
The cemetery contains 1.5 acres with an area reserved for veterans. To date, there have been 262 burials.
