A SAMPLING OF BURIAL PLACES OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS
in
NEW YORK CITY, NEW JERSEY & ENVIRONS

Image above: FROM SLAVERY TO RESPECT

Louis (Satchmo) Armstrong (1900-71)
Trumpet player. Native of New Orleans. learned to play in Storyville there. Flushing Cemetery, Flushing, Queens

Count Basie (1904-1984)
Orchestra leader & Composer. Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, NY

Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887)
Minister who held slave auctions in Plymouth Church in Brooklyn to wake up his constituents to its evils. Then he would free the slave. Brother to Harriet Beecher Stowe (Uncle TomÕs Cabin). Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Eugene Jacques Bullard (1894-1961)
World War I Flying Ace. Born in Georgia. Trained in France, and fought with French Lafayette Flying Corp. Awarded the Croix de Guerre medal. Called the "Black Swallow of Death." Also fought the Nazis with French Underground, World War II. Federation of French War VeteransÕ Plot. Flushing Cemetery, Flushing, N.Y.

John Coltrane (1926-1967)
Innovative jazz musician who played the saxophone. Pinelawn Cemetery, Farmingdale, N.Y.

Countee Cullen (1903-1946)
Poet, Harlem Renaissance. Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, NY

Duke Ellington (1899-1974)
Child prodigy. Composer, pianist, orchestra leader. Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, N.Y.

Hell Fighters from Harlem, 369th Regiment
Served in France in World War I. 171 officers & enlisted men received the Croix de Guerre. They introduced jazz to Europe. Cypress Hills National Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.

James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938)
Poet ("Lift Every Voice & Sing"), Educator, Executive Secretary N.A.A.C.P. Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Florence Mills (1895-1927)
Popular Broadway Singer/Comedienne. Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, N.Y.

Bill (Bojangles) Robinson (1878-1949)
Black tap dancer. In movies with Shirley Temple. Evergreen Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Paul Robeson (1898-1976)
Athlete, actor, singer, civil rights activist. Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, N.Y.

(Malcolm Little Shabazz) Malcolm X (1925-1985)
Buried under the name ÒShabazz.Ó Murdered Black political leader. Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, N.Y.

Pierre Toussaint (b. 1766)
Born a slave. Became a hairdresser in N.Y.C. and supported his mistress when her husband died. Helped to raise funds to build St. PatrickÕs Cathedral. Originally buried in Old St. PatrickÕs, Soho, N.Y.C.; now in the cathedral at Rockefeller Center.

Thomas Greene Wiggins (Blind Tom) (1849-1908)
Blind musical prodigy, born & died in bondage. Performed on the piano before the crowned heads of Europe and in America. Wrote many popular songs. Evergreen Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Harry Wills (1880-1958)
Prizefighter. Forbidden to fight Jack Dempsey for fear he would defeat him. Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, N.Y

United States "Colored" Troops. Civil War
Gravestones have initials "U.S.Clrd. Tr." National Cemeteries in: Brooklyn, N.Y: Cypress Hills, Tennessee: Chattanooga, Cumberland River, Knoxville, Memphis, & Nashville. Tallahassee, Fla.: Public Cemetery, Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit Mi (102nd Colored Infantry)

For the full pamphlet, order: Burial Places of African-Americans in New York & New Jersey, (10 pp.), $3.25

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AFRICAN-AMERICAN CEMETERIES IN NEW YORK CITY

Desegregation has led to the acceptance of people of color in all city graveyards. A few African-American cemeteries still remain, dating from the days of slavery, as well as one which was created in the 20th century.

African Burial Ground, New York City, 250 Broadway. Dates from the Dutch possession of New York (1600s)

Frederick Douglas Memorial Park, Amboy Rd. & Montreal Ave., Staten Island (20th century)

Sandy Ground (Rossville A.M.E. Zion Churchyard) Staten Island, Crabtree Ave., off Turner St. (Early 1800s)

Colored Cemetery of Flushing, 46th Ave. between 164th and 165th Sts. (1840-1890) Discovered by M.O. Tshaka. Located under a wading pool in Martins playground maintained by the cityÕs Parks Department. Ground-seeking radar shows African-American and Indians are interred there. No action so far to restore it.

Church of the Ascension Burial Ground. Alaska St. off Richmond Terrace. Local historians believe the black sexton of the church took over this burying ground for his family when the church closed. Now abandoned.

Tony Burroughs, in his "Black Roots" lists these from New Jersey:

City Cemetery, Newark N.J.

Mt. Pisgah A.M.E. Church Cemetery, Salem, N.J.

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