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:
PIERCE CHAPEL AFRICAN AMERICAN CEMETERY
PIERCE CHAPEL AFRICAN AMERICAN CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1834
ADDITONAL NAMES: None
AFFILIATION(S):
African American Cemetery Coalition
HISTORY:
The site of Pierce Chapel African American Cemetery was established ca. 1834 as a designated burial ground for enslaved Africans. Following the Civil War, their descendants and surrounding Black settlements continued the tradition of African burial practices at this site. They were amongst the first persons of color to own land in the Black Belt of Harris County, Ga. Many of whom were farmers, skilled artisans and military veterans having served honorably in World War I and II.
The recorded documentary history for Pierce Chapel Cemetery has been scarce and, in some cases, non-existent. Our recent discovery of archaeological artifacts and evidence of traditional African burial rituals presents an opportunity to raise cultural awareness, create a documentary history, and tell the stories of under-acknowledged communities and the lasting contributions that have shaped the landscape of American society.
BCN Contact Information:
Hamilton Hood Foundation
info@hamiltonhood.org
EAST END CEMETERY
EAST END CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1897
ADDITONAL NAMES: Greenwood Cemetery
AFFILIATION(S):
Friends of East End Cemetery
HISTORY:
Founded in 1897, East End Cemetery is the final resting place of an estimated 15,000 African Americans, among them some of the most prominent Black Richmonders of the turn of the 20th century. The cemetery was established the year after the U.S. Supreme Court, in Plessy v. Ferguson, affirmed the constitutionality of racial segregation, which followed African Americans to the grave.
Even as Jim Crow laws proliferated across the South, Black Virginians continued to build and nurture their communities and their institutions while fighting to participate in broader civic life. In the decades following the Civil War, they created churches, schools, businesses, social clubs, mutual aid societies. Evidence of these is everywhere at East End.
BCN Contact Information:
Erin Hollaway Palmer
ehollaway@gmail.com
LAUREL CEMETERY
LAUREL CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1852
ADDITONAL NAMES: None
AFFILIATION(S): None
HISTORY:
Laurel Cemetery was incorporated in 1852 as a nondenominational cemetery for African Americans of Baltimore, Maryland. In its early years, it was a premier burial site for people across Black Baltimore’s socioeconomic spectrum. However, by the 1930s, the site was overgrown and garbage strewn due to years of improper maintenance by the cemetery’s owners. In response to local neighborhood complaints and economic motivations on the part of the owners, legislation was successfully introduced by a local politician in 1957 to allow the demolition and sale of the property for commercial purposes. Although lot owners and NAACP lawyers petitioned to stop the demolition, the bulldozing proceeded following the removal of a few hundred graves to a new Laurel Cemetery site approximately fifty (50) miles away in Carroll County, Maryland. Today, the Belair-Edison Crossing shopping center occupies the footprint of the old cemetery. In the case of Baltimore’s Laurel Cemetery, the absence of historical memory and material culture signifying the existence of an important historical site is compelling. Although Baltimore’s history shows the loss of many cemeteries regardless of race or ethnicity, the size of the property (22 acres), number of burials, notoriety of individuals, and legal opposition to demolition make the Laurel Cemetery stand out as an important case study with broad implications. In particular, the overall number of burials is an important aspect of the site. The exact number will never be known as cemetery records were lost and Baltimore City death certificates do not start until 1875. Additionally, the property was known to have been used as a burial site for free and enslaved African Americans prior to its formal 1852 incorporation. Despite these blind spots, our review of Baltimore City death certificate has thus far revealed more than 13,000 burials from Laurel Cemetery (after a search of less than 30% of relevant records). At this point, it is safe to estimate that more than 20,000 burials will be revealed solely from available death certificate records.
BCN Contact Information:
Elgin Klugh
eklugh@coppin.edu
http://laurelcemetery.omeka.net/
Daughters of Zion Cemetery
DAUGHTERS OF ZION CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1873
ADDITONAL NAMES: Society, Samaritan, Oak Hill, Zion
AFFILIATION(S): None
HISTORY:
Over the years, the Daughters of Zion Cemetery, located on the corner of Oak and First Street South in Charlottesville, Virginia, has been known by many names including Society, Zion, Old Oakwood, Oak Hill and Samaritan Cemetery. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register. The approximately two-acre burial ground was established in 1873 by members of the Daughters of Zion Society, an African American women’s benevolent organization that sought to support the needs of African Americans. One of the important efforts conducted by this group was to provide a place of dignified burial. Although the Daughters of Zion Cemetery remained an active burial ground until 1995, after 1933 there was no longer an organization available to maintain the cemetery that had fallen into disrepair. In the early 1970s, the City declared the cemetery abandoned and assumed responsibility for its upkeep.
In 2015, the Preservers of the Daughters of Zion Cemetery organized with the mission to restore and preserve the historic cemetery that was subsequently included on Preservation Virginia’s 2016 list of Most Endangered Historic Places. After the City allocated $80K to assist with the restoration efforts, the Preservers began working with the City to address the broken and discolored markers, erosion and trees that were in decline. The Preservers also arranged to have ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys conducted which revealed that the cemetery contained more than twice the 300 graves originally estimated. The Preservers are continuing their restoration efforts and through extensive research are attempting to identify as many of the unknown burials as possible. The Daughters of Zion Cemetery is one of a few remaining sites in Charlottesville that retains a connection to the vital role played by a Reconstruction-era African American mutual aid society in the development of Charlottesville’s post-Emancipation African American community.
BCN Contact Information:
dozcpreservers@gmail.com
https://daughtersofzioncemetery.org
Odd Fellows Cemetery
ODD FELLOWS CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1890s
ADDITONAL NAMES: Rountree Cemetery, Rountree-Vick Cemetery
AFFILIATION(S):
African-American Cemetery Coalition
HISTORY:
Odd Fellows Cemetery is at the center of three adjoining historic African-American cemeteries, each founded around the turn of the 20th century. (Rountree Cemetery is easternmost. Vick Cemetery is westernmost. Colloquially, and confusingly, all three cemeteries are collectively known as “Rountree Cemetery.” The City of Wilson erroneously refers to Odd Fellows and Vick cemeteries jointly as “Rountree-Vick Cemetery.”) Established as a burial ground by members of Hannibal Lodge #1552, Odd Fellows was active into the 1950s, though most burials were before World War II. It holds the remains of many early 20th century businesspeople and artisans, including Samuel H. Vick, arguably the most powerful, politically connected, and certainly the wealthiest African-American in Wilson from about 1890-1930.
Odd Fellows was abandoned circa 1960. The local lodge is defunct. Three-quarters of the two-acre is completely overgrown. Lane Street Project began leading volunteer cleanups in December 2020.
BCN Contact Information:
Lane Street Project
lisayhenderson@gmail.com
www.afamwilsonnc.com
Ellis Camp (No. Unknown)
ELLIS CAMP
FOUNDED: 1878
ADDITONAL NAMES: Sugar Land 95 Burial Ground
AFFILIATION(S): Yes
The Convict Leasing and Labor Project
HISTORY:
The Sugar Land 95 are the 95 African-American individuals unearthed during a construction in Sugar Land, Texas, 30 miles southwest of Houston. Archeologists found evidence that the 95 individuals were incarcerated under the state of Texas' convict leasing system and were buried in unmarked graves.
The first bone was found in February 2018, by a backhoe operator clawing through the dirt on land owned by the Fort Bend Independent School District. By the summer, the remains of 94 men and one woman, all African-American victims of convict leasing, had been recovered on the future site of a career and technical education center. Ranging in age from 14 to 70, the inmates had muscular builds but were malnourished, their bones misshapen from back-breaking, repetitive labor. They were buried in plain pine boxes sometime between 1878 and 1911.
BCN Contact Information:
Convict Leasing and Labor Project
cllptexas@gmail.com
Nantucket Historic Coloured Cemetery
NANTUCKET HISTORIC COLOURED CEMETERY
FOUNDED: Earliest records suggest 1805
ADDITONAL NAMES: None
AFFILIATION(S):
Nantucket Cemetery Commission
HISTORY:
Public cemeteries on Nantucket were established by the Select Board in the "Common and Undivided Lands of the Town and County of Nantucket. While known by various other names throughout its history, "Historic Coloured Cemetery," captures its essence including the antique spelling of "Coloured." Nantucket has had a Black community for centuries; evidence of this is the historic African Meeting House on York Street, which was at the heart of the Black community. Much more can be found on the website of the Nantucket Historical Association and its pages on the public cemeteries: https://cemeteries.nha.org/colored-cemetery. Despite the history of the cemetery's name in the NHA description, more recently, the Black community on Nantucket agreed to the current name including "Historic" providing that the antique spelling of "Coloured" was used also. The most recent interment was Dr. Donald Steward, former President of Spelman College who went into a family-owned plot.
BCN Contact Information:
Chair of the Cemetery Commission (Department of Public Works)
John N Smith Cemetery
JOHN N SMITH CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1880
ADDITONAL NAMES: None
AFFILIATION(S):
John N Smith Cemetery Restoration and Preservation Inc
HISTORY:
The John N Smith Cemetery was established in 1880 when land was sold to the CME Church for the sole purpose to have a permanent cemetery for the African American community of Southport, NC. During the 1870's the 2 acre site, within the Gullah Geechee Corridor, was an unofficial burial grounds. The earliest marked gravesite is the one for John N Smith. Buried here are people who experienced slavery, reconstruction, Jim Crow and the Civil Rights movement. Veterans of every US War from the Civil War through the Gulf Wars are buried here, including Buffalo soldiers. People from all occupations: fishermen, farmers, teachers, merchants, nurses, domestic workers, firemen, police officers and civil rights workers as well as their children are buried here. In 1949, the five local Black Churches, purchased an additional 1.5 acres. It is the largest Black Cemetery in Brunswick County. The exact number of persons interred is not precisely known. In addition to the approximate 500 markers, a GPR study identified 1243 unmarked gravesites.
The entire Cemetery is owned, managed and maintained by a non-profit, 501c3, the John N Smith Cemetery Restoration and Preservation Inc. This organization utilizes the Cemetery as a public education venue (an outdoor museum created in 2021) to teach the real history about the positive community contributions of those buried there and the challenges they confronted as a result of bigotry, violence and discrimination. In 2021, the Cemetery was designated and now listed on the National Park Service Registry of Historic Places.
BCN Contact Information:
Judy Gordon
jsgord@att.net
Oak Lawn Cemetery
OAK LAWN CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1885
ADDITONAL NAMES: Oaklawn Cemetery
AFFILIATION(S):
Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society
HISTORY:
In 1885, seven African American trustees acquired land and established Oak Lawn Cemetery for burials of African American citizens within the corporate limits of the Town of Suffolk, Virginia. Community leaders interred here include John W. Richardson, president of the Phoenix Bank of Nansemond; Wiley H. Crocker, founder of the Tidewater Fair Association and Nansemond Development Corporation; William Washington Gaines, Baptist minister and founder of the Nansemond Collegiate Institute; Fletcher Mae Howell, Baptist missionary; Dr. William T. Fuller, physician and banker; and William H. Walker, Tuskegee Airman. Also buried in Oak Lawn are late 19th-century local politicians, United States Colored Troops, and veterans of the Spanish American War, World Wars I and II, Korea, and Vietnam.
In 2019, a historical highway marker was erected at the site.
BCN Contact Information:
Nadia K. Orton
nadia.orton@sacredgroundsproject.org
Brooklyn Cemetery
BROOKLYN CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1882
ADDITONAL NAMES: Bethlehem Cemetery
AFFILIATION(S):
Historic Athens
Morton Theatre Corporation
HISTORY:
Established in 1882, the Brooklyn Cemetery (http://www.brooklyncemetery.org/)—founded by the Bethlehem Cemetery Society—was one of the first African American cemeteries in Athens, Georgia. Located on the western side of Athens, the cemetery served as a final resting place for many African Americans from Athens and surrounding communities. The people buried there were largely working class—tradespeople of the period, farmers, preachers, teachers, and professionals in the service industry.
Known burials include 54 documented veterans of the Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the Korean War. Several historic African American churches used the cemetery, including Hill First Baptist Church (the oldest African American Baptist church in Athens, Georgia; Mount Pleasant Baptist Church (established in 1869), First A.M.E. (the oldest African American church in Athens, established as Pierce Chapel in 1866) and Hill Chapel Baptist Church (established in 1924). Three long-standing Athens funeral homes, Hurley, Mack and Payne, and Jackson-McWhorter also had designated areas in the cemetery.
The nearly 10-acre site has been the subject of restoration and preservation efforts for nearly 20 years, roughly three decades after the cemetery began to fall into disrepair. Although many of the temporary grave markers have been lost, some remain standing—strong and visible, while remnants of others remain. Volunteers have unearthed old, weathered stones and other artifacts, cleared away tons of debris, and documented roughly 1,000 known burials, with the last one occurring in 1993. The Brooklyn Cemetery is owned by the Bethlehem Cemetery Society.
BCN Contact Information:
Kimberly Davis
info@brooklyncemetery.org
Quarter Place Cemetery
QUARTER PLACE CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1794
ADDITONAL NAMES: Patrick Henry's Red Hill
AFFILIATION(S): None
HISTORY:
The Quarter Place Cemetery is nestled at the end of a half-mile trail at Patrick Henry’s Red Hill. Spanning generations since 1794, there have been 147 graves identified in the one-acre space. To the local community, this is a sacred burial ground. Many of those buried there also had family members buried in the local African American church cemeteries.
As a plantation cemetery, this space contains yucca plants, periwinkle, as well as field stones to mark the graves. It has been so secluded, many of the grave-shaft depressions are still visible. In an archaeological survey completed in 2019, there was found a spot near the middle of the cemetery in which no graves lie, indicating that the burials were planned as a sacred place for the black community to gather. Through genealogical research efforts, it is evident that many descendants of those interred at the cemetery still reside nearby. This site is critical to showing African American resilience, familial ties, and culture in Southside Virginia—a place where very few non-church, black cemeteries remain.
BCN Contact Information:
Hope Marstin
info@redhill.org
African American Burial Ground at Woodland Cemetery
AFRICAN AMERICAN BURIAL GROUND AT WOODLAND CEMETERY
FOUNDED: TBA [Working to establish]
ADDITONAL NAMES: None
AFFILIATION(S): None
HISTORY:
Between July 2020 and January 2021, 667 unmarked burials were recovered in Woodland Cemetery on the Clemson University campus using ground penetrating radar. Though the burial site was known to many in the region for two centuries, Clemson University did not undertake significant efforts to memorialize the unknown burials until 2016. These burials likely belong to the enslaved and free Africans and African Americans who labored at the Fort Hill Plantation and other plantations in the region, as well as sharecroppers and domestics who labored for Thomas Green Clemson following the end of the Civil War. The burials also belong to African American convicted laborers leased from the South Carolina Penitentiary who died while building Clemson between 1890-1915 as well as African American wage workers who labored at Clemson during its early years and their family members.
BCN Contact Information:
Dr. Rhondda Thomas
rhonddt@clemson.edu
Historic Oberlin Cemetery
HISTORIC OBERLIN CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1873
LOCATION: Raleigh, NC
HISTORY:
In 1873, Nicholas Pettiford sold the one-acre tract of the Pettiford homestead he inherited from his father, Jesse, for $45 to the trustees of Oberlin Cemetery. The deed indicated that the land be sold in lots for burials. Daniel Green was a cemetery sexton, likely for the Oberlin Cemetery. By 1880, Oberlin Village was flourishing, with about 160 African American households on large rural lots. Around 1911 the Turner family sold or donated a tract for additional burial plots, called Pineview. John Turner became the cemetery sexton and Hubert Jeffries was paid $2 to dig the graves. The two cemeteries were annexed together when the the National Registry application was submitted.
During the 2016 pedestrian survey of the cemetery, 1087 records were recorded using a high-resolution Ground Penetrating Radar (GPS) unit resulting in a specially enabled database. An estimated 660 interred were identified by monuments and/or sunken graves. Twenty-seven (family) enclosures and six family markers were identified. The monuments were made from carved stone, cement, metal plaques, a wooden head board and field stones. They are decorated with Bible verses, symbols and characters indicating their passions and contributions to their community. The stories of the lives and accomplishments of the interred souls bring to light the contributions made to N. Carolina and US history. The volunteers of the Friends of Oberlin Village have worked tirelessly since 2011 to uncover and preserve this forgotten history to honor the folk buried in Historic Oberlin Cemetery.
RESOURCE LINKS:
BCN Contact Information:
Cheryl Williams
oberlinhistorian@outlook.com
Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground
Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground
FOUNDED: 1816
LOCATION: Richmond, VA
ADDITIONAL NAMES: 2nd African Burial Ground
HISTORY:
The Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground was established in 1816 by the City of Richmond, VA as the replacement for the Burial Ground for Negroes (now referred to as the African Burial Ground) in Shockoe Bottom. The new burying ground on Shockoe Hill, was laid out along the northern end of Fifth Street near the city’s poorhouse. It began as two adjoining one-acre plots, one for free people of color and one for the enslaved. The grounds expanded greatly over time to encompass as many as 31 acres. With an estimated 22,000 plus interments, it was/is likely the largest burial ground for free people of color and the enslaved in the United States. After closing the burying ground in 1879 due to overcrowd conditions, the city repurposed the site, making the burial ground unrecognizable today.
There are likely hundreds of thousands, if not millions of descendants of the people who were buried within these grounds all over the United States (though not yet aware of their connections). The burial ground and its people have suffered many abuses/desecrations over its long history, and it remains under threat to this day. Present threats include the DC2RVA high-speed rail project, and the proposed widening of I-64. Please see the Wikipedia page for the Shockoe Hill African Burial Ground for additional information, or any of the other sources listed below.
RESOURCE LINKS:
BCN Contact Information:
Lenora McQueen
shockoehillafricanbg@gmail.com
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/
Ridgewood Cemetery
RIDGEWOOD CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1942
LOCATION: Tampa, FL
AFFILIATION(S):
The African American Cemetery Alliance of Tampa Bay
HISTORY:
Ridgewood Cemetery was established in 1942 and later purchased by the City of Tampa in 1959. The site is located on the grounds of King High School in Tampa, FL. A 2019 GPR assessment of the area revealed 145 unmarked graves on the property, though further evidence suggests there may be as many as 250.
BCN Contact Information:
Shannon Peck-Bartle
speck@usf.edu
Rose Cemetery
ROSE CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1904
LOCATION: Tarpon Springs, FL
AFFILIATION(S):
The African American Cemetery Alliance of Tampa Bay
HISTORY:
The Rose Hill Cemetery serves as the largest intact segregated African American cemetery in Pinellas County, Florida. Established in the early twentieth-century, the cemetery reflects the trials and triumphs of the Tarpon Springs African American community from the Civil War through current day. Home to nineteenth-century black hook spongers, community leaders, military veterans, and civil rights activists, the cemetery provides teachers and students with a unique opportunity to explore Afro-Caribbean and African American hidden stories and experiences in Florida.
RESOURCE LINKS:
BCN Contact Information:
Shannon Peck-Bartle
speck@usf.edu
Whispering Souls African American Cemetery (WSAAC)
WHISPERING SOULS
AFRICAN AMERICAN CEMETERY
(WSAAC)
FOUNDED: 1896
LOCATION: Clearwater, FL
AFFILIATION(S):
The African American Cemetery Alliance of Tampa Bay
HISTORY:
This 3/4 acre site is located in the middle of a residential subdivision. There are 20 visible markers - the oldest dated 1896 and 3 marking U.S. veterans - but estimates are that there are 130 burials at the site. A 2018 GPR survey has identified at least 90 possible burials and more anomalies. The firm history of the site is that it is on land near Safety Harbor that in the 1800s belonged to the pioneer McMullen family. Subsequent ownership includes the Coachman family in the early 1900s and, eventually, the Ehle family in the 1940s. The Ehles partitioned their acquisition into lots for residential development, but reserved Lot 15 - site of the current cemetery - which they deeded to a Safety Harbor African American fraternal organization in 1951, and the cemetery has been left undeveloped since. We do not know - and may never know - if the original cemetery extends beyond the deed lines of Lot 15, i.e., whether surrounding residences sit atop graves. The site has gone by the names "Safety Harbor Colored Cemetery" and "Helping Hands Cemetery" (for the fraternal organization deeded the site). Over the years, a group of Safety Harbor residents managed informal care for the site and in 2017, a new group of volunteers organized for more comprehensive care of the site. It was this 2017 group that gave the site its current name, "Whispering Souls African American Cemetery," and formed a NPO to formalize care for the site and assure its preservation from development for the African American community.
RESOURCE LINKS:
BCN Contact Information:
Jacqueline Hayes, WSAAC Board President
h.jacqueline40@yahoo.com
Zion Cemetery
ZION CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1901
LOCATION: Tampa, FL
AFFILIATION(S):
Zion Cemetery Preservation & Maintenance Society
University of South Florida
The African American Cemetery Alliance of Tampa Bay
Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN)
HISTORY:
Zion cemetery is the oldest African American cemetery in Tampa. The site currently sits underneath Robles Park Housing Complex which is undergoing archaeological excavation.
BCN Contact Information:
Leroy Moore
Moffett Cemetery
MOFFETT CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1888
ADDITONAL NAMES: St. Petersburg Cemetery
AFFILIATION(S):
The African American Cemetery Alliance of Tampa Bay
University of South Florida
HISTORY:
Moffett Cemetery was founded in 1888 in St. Petersburg, Florida. Originally designated for Civil War veterans, Moffett Cemetery was later used for African American burials. Moffett cemetery, as well as neighboring Evergreen and Oaklawn cemeteries, operated until 1926 when all three properties were closed and condemned by order of city officials. Per city ordinance, persons buried at Oaklawn, Evergreen and Moffett cemeteries were to be relocated based on race, with African Americans moved to Lincoln Cemetery and whites moved to Royal Palm Cemetery. The site now sits beneath the interstate which leads in and out of downtown St. Petersburg.
BCN Contact Information:
Antoinette Jackson
atjackson@usf.edu
https://heritagelab.org/