This afternoon (9 July 2009), the sheriff’s department of Cook County, Illinois, announced that four people faced felony charges for a horrifying scheme at a historic African-American cemetery outside of Chicago.
Burr Oak Cemetery, in Alsip, Illinois, is the final resting place of such notables as Emmett Till, whose lynching in 1955 helped inspire many in the civil rights movement, and Dinah Washington, the blues legend. Noble Drew Ali, founder and prophet of the Moorish Science Temple, the precursor to the Nation of Islam, is also buried there. Six weeks ago, the police began investigating the cemetery after a call from its owners.
The reports state that several cemetery workers had been digging up old graves, removing the bodies, and reselling the plots for cash. It was originally announced that about one hundred graves had suffered this disrespectful treatment, but authorities now cite the number as probably over three hundred. Most of the grave-robbing occurred in back lots, which contain the oldest graves that see the least traffic. Some cemetery records have also been destroyed, probably in an attempt to “cover their tracks.”
These graves — and indeed all graves — comprise a very important genealogical resource. Genealogists often speak of “finding their ancestors” in the metaphorical sense, as mentions in records. But these graves are where we really find our ancestors. The history, both family and national, represented in these now-defiled graves is immeasurable. These graves meant just a few dollars to these four criminals, but to the families of those who were buried in them, they meant much more.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart himself commented, “When you look at some of the gravestones ... that have been dumped throughout the cemetery and had been hidden, you see gravestones of babies, you see gravestones of grandparents, wives, husbands. ... This is heartbreaking stuff.”
That says it all... “heartbreaking.”
Comments
Umm black cemeteries? Isnt that discrimination? Are there any white only cemeteries? I have never heard of any.
Many cemeteries around the country were established as "black" or "white" only, prior to the Civil Rights movement. (Remember that was only 40-50 years ago.)
Porscha - what do you think gave way to "black only cemeteries"?
"White only cemeteries" of course - they gave way to its birth. A prime example is Butler's Cemetery in Camden NJ. Where a prominent business man in 1867, Mr. Dempsey Butler, was told he could not bury his wife in a "white only" cemetery. So he purchased a small plot of land next to the "white only" cemetery - and reinterred his wife's remains there. Currently there are 236 Camden "Colored" residents buried next to a once "white only" burial ground.
Wonder how they deal with that in the afterlife???? -:)
Let me also tell you about a cemetery in Fort Mill SC named "Unity Cemetery"... you would think by the name that all are welcomed to rest there - but that is not the case. It too is "white only" even in this more modern and diverse age of man.
And "Green Hill" in the very same town is an "all Black" cemetery ---- some things are just expected.
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