Ten years after enslaved Texans lastly realized of their freedom, a bunch of freedmen in Houston established their very own cemetery in 1875.
That place, Olivewood Cemetery, turned the town’s first integrated African American burial floor.
At a time when segregation denied Black Houstonians dignity in life and even in dying, Olivewood was a declaration of independence. It gave the town’s earliest freed households a sacred resting floor the place they may honor their useless on their very own phrases.
100 and fifty years later, Olivewood remains to be right here. Its anniversary in November marks a testomony to the resilience of reminiscence and the dedication of descendants and volunteers to protect Houston’s earliest Black historical past.
The cemetery’s founding sits squarely within the story of Juneteenth. When Union Normal Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston on June 19, 1865, two months after the Civil Warfare ended, to declare freedom for Texas slaves, the announcement reshaped life throughout the state.
“This cemetery is emancipation in stone,” says Margott Williams, president of Descendants of Olivewood. “To honor these individuals who got here out of slavery, who turned medical doctors, attorneys, seamstresses, farmers and veterans, it’s a privilege.”
Williams’ ties are deeply private. Her grandmother handed away and Williams wished to bury her beside her grandfather. When Williams arrived on the cemetery, she couldn’t discover her grandfather’s gravesite. That was her turning level.
“I assumed, it is a disgrace, that anyone’s final resting place on this planet ought to appear to be that,” Williams recollects. “To have the ability to stroll within the steps of your ancestors is a vital step.”
That discovery impressed Williams to assist discovered Descendants of Olivewood in 2003. This nonprofit has since develop into the cemetery’s guardian. Its mission is to revive, protect and inform the tales of these interred.
Lives that formed Houston
Olivewood is a map of Houston’s Black historical past. Amongst its burials are Richard Allen, a state legislator and one of many founders of Emancipation Park in 1872; businessman John Brown Bell, who was previously enslaved; lawyer J. Vance Lewis, additionally as soon as enslaved and Reverend Jack Yates, the pioneering minister and civic chief, later reinterred at School Park Cemetery.
A whole lot of different shopkeepers, seamstresses, lecturers, preachers, troopers, moms and dads encompass every of those males. Collectively, their lives hint the roots of Black Houston.
Charles Prepare dinner is the co-founder and upkeep coordinator of Descendants of Olivewood. As a long-time volunteer, these tales are what preserve him coming again. “Oli-wood is the place to be,” he says, utilizing the nickname many volunteers affectionately use. “There’s a lot historical past, a lot forgotten tradition.”
Prepare dinner first came across Olivewood in 1993, when it was buried underneath a long time of overgrowth. Since then, he has devoted numerous hours to clearing vegetation, repairing monuments and documenting burials.
“We figured it had been that approach for 20 to 30 years,” he says. “Sustaining and preserving the land takes a variety of work.”
The lengthy combat for preservation
For a lot of the twentieth century, Olivewood was deserted. Headstones toppled, vandalism unfold and flooding from White Oak Bayou eroded the land. By 2010, a lot of the cemetery was prone to everlasting loss. Solely a fraction of the location’s eight acres had been cleared of invasive progress.
Prior to now twenty years, the group has rallied hundreds of volunteers from church teams, scouts, college students and company groups to keep up the grounds. In 2003, Olivewood was designated a Historic Texas Cemetery. This 12 months, the location obtained its most vital enhance but, a $200,000 preservation grant from the African American Cultural Heritage Motion Fund, a Nationwide Belief for Historic Preservation program. The grant will assist long-term governance, upkeep and neighborhood engagement.
Jasmine Lee is an anthropologist working with Descendants of Olivewood. She is fascinated by the distinctive cultural features of Olivewood shows. However studying extra in regards to the beliefs, behaviors and lives of the people at relaxation provides extra context to the experiences of Black women and men from slavery by Emancipation.
“A couple of quarter of the folks buried right here have been born into slavery,” she explains. “For them, their headstones have been their first probability at self-expression. To say, ‘That is who I used to be. That is what mattered.’”
One such grave belongs to Ola Edwards, who survived the transatlantic slave commerce, endured bondage, witnessed emancipation and lived to assist construct Houston. Standing earlier than his stone, Lee says, collapses centuries. “You’re solely six toes away from a lot historical past.”
Lee sees Olivewood as each sacred floor and a classroom. College students come to map graves, examine gravestone artistry and uncover forgotten lives as a result of “a neighborhood at relaxation is dependent upon a residing neighborhood to hold on their legacy.”
Volunteers are taking part in a program to beautify plots and walkways. Know-how helps construct a digital database of burials, pairing headstones with genealogical information. Because the cemetery turns into extra accessible, guests are more and more utilizing the area for quiet reflection.
“To protect Olivewood,” Williams says, “is to protect Houston’s Black story.”
On Nov. 16, 2025, from 2:00 to five:00 PM, Descendants of Olivewood will set up an occasion titled Their Imaginative and prescient Restored: Olivewood at 150 on the historic DeLUXE Theater in Houston’s Fifth Ward.
For extra info, go to descendantsofolivewood.org
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Notable Burials at Olivewood Cemetery
Richard Allen (1830–1909) – Texas politician and founding father of Houston’s Emancipation Park (1872).
John Brown Bell (1858–1917) – Businessman, actual property investor, civic chief; previously enslaved.
J. Vance Lewis (c. 1853–1925) – Lawyer; born enslaved, turned certainly one of Houston’s first Black attorneys.
Jack Yates (1828–1897) – Baptist minister and neighborhood chief; buried initially at Olivewood, later reinterred at School Park Cemetery.
