STARKVILLE COLORED CEMETERY

FOUNDED: unknown

ADDITONAL NAMES: Brush Arbor

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

The Brush Arbor, or Starkville Colored Cemetery, is an over 200-year-old, historically Black cemetery stationed central to residential life in Starkville Mississippi. It is among the oldest cemeteries in Starkville and has likely existed as a public graveyard since Starkville’s founding. Many notable names reside within the cemetery such as one of Oktibbeha county’s legislators, Ben Chiles, a World War II vet, and other African Americans instrumental in the development of Starkville. Despite being here since Starkville’s conception, the Brush Arbor/Starkville Colored Cemetery remains widely unrecognized.

Dr. Jordan Lynton-Cox of Mississippi State University is head of the Brush Arbor/Starkville Colored Cemetery Community-Engaged Field Program, a three-year project dedicated to historic preservation and restoration of the cemetery through decolonial methods. For information, email brusharbor@anthro.msstate.edu.

BCN Contact Information:

Dr. Jordan Lynton-Cox

jlynton@anthro.msstate.edu