FOX-HEMBRY CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1831

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

This Historic African American cemetery dates back to 1845, however the Fox Family took over the ownership in 1895 when the men of the family purchased one acre of land to be used “as a burying place for the colored people,” according to deed records. Deed records (Vol. 57, p 345) at the Denton County Clerk's office in Denton show the land was deeded on June 17, 1895, to A. Anthony, Will Nichols, Scott Fox, Word Watkins and Muice Craft. The one acre, measuring 208 and 3/4 feet on east, west, north and south boundaries was bought from Geo M. Hardy for $50.00.

The first recorded use of the site as a family cemetery was in 1873 when Joseph L. Lusk who was born March 16, 1835, was buried there. His grave is not readily identifiable, but members of the Fox family have pointed out a partial marker that they think is his grave. His burial is listed on the Denton County Historical Commission's survey located at the Denton County Courthouse-on-the-Square. The next DCHC record of burials on the site were those of Jessie Fox, who was buried in 1880 at the age of three years old, and Frank Fox, who was buried in 1881 at the age of three months. Both were children of Scott and Lucy Ann (McKenzie) Fox. A survey of the cemetery made in 1978 and updated in 1990 estimates that there were as many as 24 unmarked graves and 21 markers that were illegible with 62 that were legible.

The family members have continued to address concerns and needs of the cemetery.

BCN Contact Information:

Fox-Hembry Cemetery

foxhembrycemetery@gmail.com

Contact — Historic Fox-Hembry Cemetery

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1919

ADDITONAL NAMES: Washington Cemetery; Booker Washington Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Booker T. Washington Cemetery is located off Illinois Route 163 (aka Millstadt Road) near the intersection with Illinois Route 157 in Cahokia Heights (formerly Centreville), Illinois. The cemetery is also known as Booker Washington Cemetery and Washington Cemetery. The cemetery was founded by Russie McCullen “R.M.C.” Green, an African American undertaker, on September 10, 1919. A plat of the cemetery dated January 30, 1920, contained 9 sections and 548 lots, and was recorded by the St. Clair County Recorder on March 17, 1920. An addition to the cemetery was platted in November 1966 by Gertrude A. (Hudson) Green, daughter-in-law of the founder and spouse of Edgar H. Green (son of R.M.C).

The cemetery did not have a perpetual care program for the graves. The present ownership of this cemetery is unknown. The cemetery is in poor condition and has been for decades. Weeds cover the graves. The property suffers from flooding, criminal activity, and illegal dumping. Booker T. Washington Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 12,000 African Americans including freed slaves, military veterans, and prominent East St. Louis residents.

BCN Contact Information:

St. Clair County Genealogical Society

sccgsoffice@stclair-ilgs.org

WILLIAMSON CREEK CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1863

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

The Williamson Creek Cemetery is one of the oldest historic enslaved cemeteries in Austin, TX. The cemetery was neglected for years with a few volunteers making an effort to maintain the cemetery. The Williamson Creek Cemetery Care Association (WCCCA), since its first organized cleaning in 2020, has taken up the responsibility to care and maintain this cemetery. The WCCA non-profit organization goals are to actively promote, educate, and create awareness about the cemetery's historical significance. They plan to provide resources, workshops, and opportunities for individuals to learn about best practices for cemetery maintenance, historic preservation, and enslave genealogical research. They are dedicated to the preservation, beautification, and respectful upkeep of this cemetery honoring the memories and heritage of those who have passed away.

BCN Contact Information:

Cheryl B Johnson

williamsoncreekcemeterycareass@gmail.com

BETHANY CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1893

ADDITONAL NAMES: BETHANY CEMETERY OF TRAVIS COUNTY, BETHANY CEMETERY OF AUSTIN

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Bethany Cemetery is located in east Austin on the 1300 block of Springdale Road across from Sims Elementary School. Other than the headstones that bear witness to the people who lived in the Austin community, the land has remained unchanged since the time in 1892; C.W. Jones paid $432.60 for the property that would become Bethany Cemetery.

Whether Mr. Jones had the intent to begin a cemetery for African Americans is unclear. However, during the time of his purchase, two graves of young children were already present on the property. Hellen Moore, an infant, was buried in 1879. Alice Maud Miller, 9 months old, was buried in 1886. Little is known about these two children. Other sources indicate that more burials may be present. The area where the property is located it was known as Hungry Hill.

In 1893, Mr. Jones and his wife, Emma, sold a 4/5ths undivided interest to John M. Holland, William M. Tears, Henderson Rollins and Allen Bradley. These five men formed the Bethany Cemetery Company. Jones was Superintendent; Holland was President; Tears was Secretary; Rollins was Treasurer; and Bradley was Assistant Secretary. These five men responded to a community need. When the Austin cemetery named Oakwood was laid out in 1856, q small section in the northeast corner was designated "for colored."

When the space was filled, as was the section for whites, the cemetery was expanded across Comal Street to the east, but did not include a section for blacks." Like many of the people who would find eternal rest in Bethany Cemetery, Henderson Rollins, C.W. Jones, Allen Bradley, and John Holland were ordinary folks who did extraordinary things. Mr. Rollins was listed in the City Directory as a laborer. C.W. Jones was a plumber. Allen Bradley was proprietor of a meat market on 1108 East 11th Street. John M. Holland was a real estate agent. Only two men, William H. Holland and William M. Tears reached prominence in Texas history.

In 1849, William H. Holland was born in bondage. Being enslaved, he received a college education in Oberlin College. After freedom, William Holland returned to Texas. He worked in Austin's post office, taught school and was elected as a Wharton County representative in the Texas House. There, he wrote and presented the bill for the establishment of Prairie View University. Through his efforts, the bill was eventually passed and today, William M. Holland is recognized as "the Father of Prairie View." Throughout his life, he supported education. During the time he served as president of the Bethany Cemetery Company, William H. Holland helped found the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Institute for Colored Youth in Austin.

For thirteen years, he served as its president. Later, he began the Friends in Need, an organization that supported African Americans. Two years after founding the Bethany Cemetery Company, William M. Tears became one of Austin's first African American policemen. He served for six years. Then in 1901, he founded the Tears Mortuary, known as the oldest established business in Central Texas. In 1893, Bethany Cemetery was subdivided into burial plots. The Bethany Cemetery officers granted William Tears power of attorney to conduct all sales of burial plots.

The Bethany Cemetery Association is working to save and preserve this historical African American cemetery. Bethany is the first African American cemetery in Austin, Texas. It has many former slaves and at least two known Civil War Soldiers and many early East Austin residents. Presently, the encroachment of development is threatening the cemetery as it is in an area heavy with gentrification and developers.

BCN Contact Information:

Sue Spears

suesprs@yahoo.com

GOSPEL PILGRIM CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1882

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery is located in Athens, Georgia. The cemetery was founded 1882 by the Gospel Pilgrim Society, a Black benevolent organization, “to see to it that that deceased among their number, as well as all others of their race, not otherwise provided for, are properly and decently interred.” Over the course of its one-hundred-and twenty-one-year history, around 3,500 African Americans were buried in the cemetery (approximately twenty to twenty-five percent of those were formerly enslaved individuals). Most were interred during the cemetery’s heyday in the 1930s and 1940s, but many prominent Black Athenians from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are buried at Gospel Pilgrim: Monroe Bowers “Pink” Morton was born a slave in 1856, but rose to become a wealthy Athenian and the owner of the Morton Theatre; Harriet Powers was a famous folk artist and quilter; Madison Davis went from slavery to the Georgia Legislature in 1868; and Ellen Green was a local resident who became a dean at Fisk University. Gradually, the cemetery fell into disarray and, after 1960, fewer and fewer people were laid to rest within its geographic bounds. In 1977, the last surviving member of the Gospel Pilgrim Society died of a heart attack. No long-term arrangement had been made for the cemetery's perpetual care, and it now has no legal owner. While nature as reclaimed the landscape, student and community groups sponsor occasional work-days to remove weeds, clear fallen branches, and pick-up trash. The last burials occurred in the early 2000s.

BCN Contact Information:

Tracy Barnett

tracy.barnett@uga.edu

KINSLER ENSLAVED CEMETERY

FOUNDED: N/A

ADDITONAL NAMES: Burnside Property

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

The cemetery is located on property that was originally owned by the Kinslers', who are considered to be a founding family for the state of South Carolina. John Herman Kinsler, one of the enslavers, signed the document of succession from the union, served in the civil war, and surrendered at Appomattox with Robert E. Lee.

The cemetery is one of two known enslaved Kinsler cemeteries in Richland County. The graves are located under a grove of trees with a stream running close by. There are flat stones that resemble slate stone that serve as headstones. The headstones are of different sizes, possibly indicating the age range of the buried individual. It appears that the cemetery is buried on a hillside. The size of the cemetery is unknown as well as the number of individuals buried in the cemetery. Based on this limited information about these early Kinsler descendants, it appears that there was some respect for the burial practices of the enslaved Kinslers'.

BCN Contact Information:

Brenda Kinsler

bkinsler224@gmail.com

POINT OF ROCKS COLORED CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1879

ADDITONAL NAMES: Point of Rocks African American Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

This is an old African American cemetery. At one time this cemetery was affiliated with an AME church, but the church was torn down several years ago. The last burial took place in 1985.

BCN Contact Information:

Donna Nelson

det55@aol.com

SAINTS AND SINNERS CEMETERY

FOUNDED: Unknown

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

———

BCN Contact Information:

Dru Ann Welch

druannwelch@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095457311694

COLEMAN CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1966

ADDITONAL NAMES: The Churches and Fraternities Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

The Coleman cemetery formed on July 18, 1966. The founders of this cemetery are Robert Butler, Father A.M Cochran, Willie Dickerson, Mary Gaddis, Clinton Jackson, Rev S.B. Ross, Rev R.B. strong, George Turner, Ella Washington, W.F Watson, and Rev J.G. West.

BCN Contact Information:

Brenda Seegars

Brendaseegars@yahoo.com

RED HILL CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1800s

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S):

• Okefenokee Heritage Center

HISTORY:

Red Hill Cemetery is an approximately six-acre historically Black cemetery located in Waycross, GA. It contains roughly 2,000 burials and has unfortunately experienced vandalism for the past several decades. Red Hill is an important site for the surrounding African American community; numerous local residents have family members and other loved ones buried there. Oral Histories with local descendants reveal the untold stories of Black life in Waycross, of the churches and schools that were central spaces in the community, of the accomplishments and perseverance of African Americans. In this way, Red Hill is an important archive of local Black history. Through a collaboration between the University of North Florida and the Okefenokee Heritage Center, faculty, students, staff and community members have come together to restore Red Hill and document its history.

BCN Contact Information:

Felicia Bevel

felicia.bevel@unf.edu

DAVIS MEMORIAL CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1956

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

A BRIEF TIMELINE OF DAVIS MEMORIAL CEMETERY (DMC)

1880: William Henry Maxwell arrives in Titusville, FL.

1925: W. H. Maxwell was successful in the citrus industry & acquired DMC property.

1952: Edward D. Davis, Jr., inherited properties from W. H. Maxwell.

1956: Edward D. Davis, Jr., established over 3 acres as Davis Cemetery for the black community.

1968: City resolution established and named right of way, Davis Place.

1969: Davis Cemetery renamed Davis Memorial Cemetery.

1969-1987: Charles G. Davis managed DMC until his passing.

1987-2012: Rita M. Davis managed DMC until her passing.

2012-Present: Kirk A. Davis began tenure as DMC general manager.

2018: Netflix's Last Chance U featured THS football player's homage to a fallen teammate.

2019: Held first community flag ceremony for deceased veterans.

2022: DMC added to historic Florida Master Site File, BR04482 .

2022: Held first "Wreaths Across America" ceremony.

DMC was one of two cemeteries for African Americans in Titusville, FL, during the "post-Reconstruction" and "Jim Crow Era". Black pioneer families (circa 1873) and their descendants, pastors, clergy, educators aerospace workers and local sports heroes.

BCN Contact Information:

Kirk A. Davis

dstarrs3740@gmail.com

TIMBUCTOO CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1854 per deed; 1847 is oldest gravestone

ADDITONAL NAMES: Zion Weleyan Methodist Episcopal African Church Cemetery; Timbuctoo Civil War Memorial Cemetery,

AFFILIATION(S):

• Timbuctoo Historical Society

HISTORY:

The Zion Wesleyan, Methodist Episcopal African Church was incorporated in December of 1854 and the land, including designation of a cemetery, was purchased that same month. However, since incorporation of churches and charitable organizations was a relatively new phenomenon in 1854, we don't assume the church and cemetery were founded at that time. In fact, the oldest remaining gravestone is dated 1847. We believe the church and cemetery occupied the premises long before 1854, perhaps under a rental agreement. It is noteworthy that the 1847 grave is for Eliza Parker. She was the wife of Timbuctoo community leader David Parker, who was a trustee of the church. Timbuctoo is an antebellum free Black settlement settled in 1826. More information about Timbuctoo can be found at www.TimbuctooNJ.com

The name Timbuctoo Civil War Memorial Cemetery is associated with the installation of a name marker in 2006 by the Westampton Historical Society. Since 8 of 11 remaining gravestones are US Colored Troops (USCT) that fought in the Civil War, logical thinking at that time was that it was a cemetery for Civil War soldiers. However, the 1854 deed suggests otherwise, with restrictive language about who can be buried here. It says the premises were to be used "as a place of religious worship according to the form of government and discipline of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in America, and as a place for the burial of the dead of such as are in connection with said church or the descendants thereof, (and such others as the majority of the Trustees for the time being may permit) forever." In addition, ground penetrating radar conducted in 2009, identified as many as 164 unmarked graves. Based on the foregoing, we believe that the USCT were buried in the cemetery because of their affiliation with the church, not because of their military service, and the majority of the interments were civilian church members.

The Timbuctoo website noted above includes additional information, including brief biographies of the US Colored Troops.

Sources:

Burlington County, New Jersey, Deeds, A:77.Trustees of the Zion Wesleyan ME African Church –Timbuctoo,23 December 1854; Burlington County Clerk's Office, Mount Holly.

Guy Weston "Timbuctoo and the First Emancipation of the Nineteenth Century," New Jersey Studies, Vol. 8 No. 1 (2022)

William J Chadwick and Peter Leach, Geophysical Survey of Timbuctoo, Westampton Township, New Jersey, John Milner Associates, September 2009

BCN Contact Information:

Guy Weston

GuyWeston@TimbuctooNJ.com

www.TimbuctooNJ.com

UNION AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1835

ADDITONAL NAMES: Allentown Borough Municipality and Union AME Church

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

The Allentown African Methodist Episcopal Church was established in 1835. This cemetery was in active use by the Union AME church from 1862- 1946. There are 65 identified burial plots at the site; however, 2019 research revealed there are 170 people buried in the cemetery. Many buried here were residents of Allentown, active in the Underground Railroad, or served in the Civil War. Among the buried was the last surviving Civil War Veteran in New Jersey, Sergeant George Ashby.

In honor of one of the cemetery' s most historical figures, Sergeant George Ashby, Allentown Borough created a park to add to the beauty and the historical importance of this Civil War Veteran and the people buried alongside him, known and unknown. Also buried within the cemetery is James Woby a hero in the battle of Gettysburg.

Allentown was also home to the Black Church Movement and was home to the second AME church in the county of Monmouth which was established in 1835.

BCN Contact Information:

Borough Administrator Laurie Roth and Allentown Council

clerk@allentownboronj.com

HALFWAY AFRICAN AMERICAN CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1897

ADDITONAL NAMES: Halfway Colored Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S):

• Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Places

HISTORY:

Halfway “Colored” Cemetery (as it was known) was founded in 1897, when a Black fraternal organization, in Hagerstown, Maryland, purchased a piece of farmland outside town to create a new cemetery for Hagerstown’s Black community. The organization was called the Perseverance Lodge of the Independent Order of Good Samaritans and Daughters of Samaria. The cemetery was dedicated in August of that year with great ceremony. It was in use for about 35 years, with some 400 African Americans, mostly from Hagerstown, being buried here. The last known burials took place in 1932. The cemetery contains earlier graves too, dating as far back as 1844. The earlier graves are believed to have been moved to Halfway from the Bethel/Ebenezer A.M.E. Church cemetery in Hagerstown. At least thirteen veterans are buried here: twelve men who fought in the USCT in the Civil War, and one who fought in World War I. Others buried at Halfway include a Pullman porter, a midwife, a student attending Storer College at Harpers Ferry, a pastor, and business people.

Originally, the cemetery was six acres in size, covering most of what is now the 11000 block of Clinton Avenue, on both sides of the street. But by 1944, the Samaritan lodge had declined. The remaining members sold most of the cemetery property to a developer, retaining less than an acre as cemetery. The portion of the land that has not been sold is what makes up the Halfway African American Cemtery today. The cemetery is surrounded by houses and yards, with no direct street access as of 2020. The cemetery became overgrown and largely forgotten; most of the headstones were moved and broken, lost among the vegetation and fallen trees. Restoration efforts began in March 2020 and continue today. Surviving headstones have been located and cleaned; there are plans to restore the space and create public access. The Friends of Halfway African American Cemetery, incorporated in 2022, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

BCN Contact Information:

Emilie Amt

halfwaycemetery@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064853073592

WORTHINGTON CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1855

ADDITONAL NAMES: Archibald Worthington

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Archibald Worthington (1818-1895) was a farmer that owned land in Highland Township, Defiance County Ohio. He migrated to Ohio upon gaining his freedom from slavery in Virginia. He and his wife raised their children on his land in Section 7 of Highland Township. He designated part of his land to be a cemetery that "was built by him, on his land, for 'his' people, no one but colored persons were ever buried there" according to the 1936 WPA Cemetery record for Worthington Cemetery. The cemetery was used until about 1890 when he moved from the area. He moved with his third wife to Wilmington, Ohio where he ran a business until his death in 1895. He is buried in Sugar Grove Cemetery in Wilmington. The land was given to his living children James and Matilda. His oldest son Henry Worthington joined the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment and saw battle, eventually taken as a Prisoner of War. Before he could be freed, he developed typhoid fever and passed away on January 8, 1865. He is buried in Salisbury National Cemetery in Salisbury, North Carolina. James and Matilda sold the land when they moved out of the area. The cemetery was considered abandoned and the land was bought and sold many times. The stones were moved in the early 1900's to make farming the land easier. It is currently owned by Ayersville Water and Sewer Co. who lease it for farming.

BCN Contact Information:

Defiance Public Library

smarshall@defiancepubliclibrary.org

https://www.defiancelibrary.org/

MOUNT MOOR CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1849

ADDITONAL NAMES: Mount Moor African-American Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Mount Moor Cemetery is a “burying ground for colored people” that was deeded on July 7, 1849 by James and Jane Benson to three African Americans, William H. Moore, Stephen Samuels and Isaac Williams, trustees. Spanning more than a century of active use (1849-ca. 1957), the cemetery is a rare surviving example of a burying ground established for the area’s African American population by African Americans. The last interment in the cemetery occurred in 1986. The cemetery has provided burial space for colored people, including veterans of the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I and II, and the Korean War. In 1940, the cemetery was formally incorporated as the Mount Moor Cemetery Association, Inc.

During the 1960s and early 1970s, the cemetery fell into disrepair. A major refurbishment of the grounds was undertaken in 1977 and again in the 1980s. Although surrounded today by modern commercial development, this once isolated burying ground retains an outstanding degree of integrity. On September 15, 1988, the Clarkstown Town Board voted unanimously to designate Mount Moor Cemetery as a local historical site. Friends of Mount Moor Cemetery was founded in 2021 to protect and preserve this sacred burial ground.

BCN Contact Information:

Friends of Mounty Moor Cemetery

friendsofmountmoorcemetery@gmail.com

CONROE COMMUNITY CEMETERY

FOUNDED: Before 1892

ADDITONAL NAMES: Conroe Community Cemetery Restoration Project (CCCRP)

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

On the near east side of Conroe, Texas, is a small cemetery that has been lost to human memory, but it has not been forgotten by nature. Located on Tenth Street in Conroe, Texas, just north of Highway 105, between Oakwood Cemetery and the old Conroe Normal & Industrial College is a African-American cemetery that had no name, but the African-American residents of old would refer to it as the Community Cemetery, or simply the Conroe Cemetery. This historic cemetery has graves dating back to the 1890s and include emancipated slaves, railroad workers, sawmill workers, the only confirmed Buffalo Soldier buried in Montgomery County, members of the fraternal organization called the Knights and Daughters of Tabor, International Order of 12, three early African American educators and over 200 graves for whom their names will remain a mystery but for whom we are placing a marker with Unknown on it.

Unfortunately, this cemetery had become so overgrown that hundreds of people drove past it daily and had no idea it was there. That has now changed!

The Conroe Community Cemetery Restoration Project is dedicated to seeing this forgotten piece of history restored and preserved so those who are interred there may once again be honored, and future generations can learn about this lost history of Conroe. It is also our desire to locate and work with the descendants of those buried in this cemetery so they may again have a connection with their past.

BCN Contact Information:

John Meredith

txgeoman@gmail.com

CEDAR LAWN CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1940

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

This cemetery was given to the community by ALCOA Inc, an aluminum company. Most African American men, in Alcoa, worked at the Alcoa Aluminum Company because World War 1 brought about a spike in the demand for aluminum. The men were brought in to work in the smelting operations. The company quickly expanded its North Maryville operations. In 1919, a rolling mill (now West Plant) was completed, and the company purchased the Knoxville Power Company for its Little Tennessee Valley holdings.

Dr. Ben Washington, who was a community leader and Doctor, lays at this cemetery. This cemetery is the final resting place to veterans from World War I and beyond.

BCN Contact Information:

United Citizen Community Organization

Bonesjrw@gmail.com

SHARSWOOD PLANTATION CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1850s

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Fred Miller Purchased property in southern Virginia. He did not know it at the time, but his new property was once a plantation. Named Sharswood, it was built in the 1850s by a slave-owning uncle and nephew who shared his last name. Miller and his family were surprised to find that their ancestors were once enslaved at Sharswood.

Fred Miller plans to clean up the cemetery and is in the process of creating a non-profit foundation to also restore the slave quarters on the property to help educate people interested in the history of slavery. Miller talks more about his experience and story on 60 minutes.

BCN Contact Information:

Fredrick Miller

sharswoodmanorestate@gmail.com

EVERGREEN CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1891

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Founded in 1891 by a private African American association, Evergreen Cemetery is the final resting place of an estimated 50,000 people—complete records are not available for the site—among them some of Richmond’s most prominent residents. Maggie L. Walker, a pioneering banker, philanthropist, and entrepreneur, was buried there in 1934. Yards from her lies John Mitchell Jr., outspoken editor of the Richmond Planet newspaper and member of the city’s Common Council from 1888 to 1898. Other luminaries interred at Evergreen include Dr. Sarah Garland Jones, the first African American and first woman licensed to practice medicine in Virginia, and the Reverend J. Andrew Bowler, who helped organize the first school for Black students in Richmond’s Church Hill neighborhood and then served on its faculty for more than fifty years.

For a time in the early 20th century, Evergreen was a preeminent burial site for Black Richmond. But the community it served was increasingly burdened by Virginia’s system of legal discrimination. The weight of Jim Crow placed inordinate pressures on families and organizations, drastically limited economic opportunity, and posed a daily threat to Black people’s health, safety, and dignity. Many African Americans left the area. Others could not afford to continue maintaining family plots, though many families tried.

 The 59-acre cemetery began to decline in the mid-20th century, even as the all-white Virginia General Assembly funded upkeep at many Confederate cemeteries. Successive owners have tried and failed to maintain the cemetery, including a series of initiatives led by funeral directors in the 1970s. Newspaper articles from the 1960s and 1970s report on the rampant overgrowth at Evergreen, as well as chronic vandalism. Over the years, volunteer efforts have made some progress at clearing the cemetery, particularly its center section, but have not been able to hold back nature. The cemetery’s last owner, the Enrichmond Foundation, collapsed in 2022. The fate of Evergreen remains unclear as of this writing in February 2023.

BCN Contact Information:

Erin Hollaway Palmer

ehollaway@gmail.com