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4650 James S. McDonnell Blvd. Berkeley, MO 63134 Washington Park Cemetery Legacies Our Sacred Grounds #SavingWashingtonPark

1 Washington Park Cemetery was founded in 1920 for use by the African-American community. As the decades passed, development chipped away at the original boundaries of these sacred grounds. Many news programs have reported that nearly 30 acres of the approximately 42-acre heritage site are in a wretched state of neglect and disrepair. Washington Park, which is highly visible to the millions of cars passing by and airplanes landing at Lambert Airport, and is the final resting place for over 42,000 people, became a prominent and significant source of pride for the African American community and for many years was one of few cemeteries where we could lay our loved ones to rest. In 1920, segregation created a business opportunity for members of the Real Estate Board who purchased land for St. Louisans who could not be buried in local cemeteries. Washington Park Cemetery became an esteemed and coveted location for gathering, honoring and remembering this ancestry. In 1955, shortly after these original investors sold Washington Park to Harlin Brown and Manuel Lasky, the land was taken through eminent domain and the construction of I-70 bisected the cemetery, stranding the 12,000 burials in the northern section from the rest of the site. In May 1972, the owners sold 8.74 acres and another 12-acre aerial flight easement to the city for $1,200,000 for a runway expansion amid questionable backdoor dealings. Three years later, newspapers reported that the city acquired the property at a cost of at least $600,000 more than it was worth and that cemetery owners paid the real estate firm a $200,000 fee for the transaction. Meanwhile, as vegetation began to smother the cemetery, it was clear that Washington Park Cemetery did not have the perpetual care fund endowment that was promised. Endeavors to generate revenue resulted in sections of the cemetery being leased, and then sold to a media company, DDI Media (Drury Displays, Inc.), who installed 3 highway billboards amongst the burials in 1985. The billboards were placed in the Children’s Section, Sections 10, 13 & 14. These sections continue to be desecrated by an underground spring with blocked drainage, overgrowth and flooding. Grave markers have been mowed over and damaged, and destroyed headstones can be seen all around. Soon after, Harlin Brown transferred ownership to his secretary, Virginia Younger. Burials in the cemetery stopped in 1991 when Younger was sued for neglect and committed suicide at her home. In 1993, a Metrolink extension to the airport was built into the cemetery. 2,500 graves were removed and only 300 families were located. The community protested that remains were damaged or simply paved over. Newspaper reports indicate that bodies were moved hastily and even removed to be used for science. The cemetery was put on the auction block for unpaid taxes, and after a 5-year legal process Ronald Kuper, publisher of the Watchman Advocate, and his partner, attorney Charles Clardy, purchased it for $3,500 in 1995, just as city officials announced plans to buy the northern section. In 1996, another disturbance transpired in Washington Park Cemetery North when the FAA performed what was described as “aviation obstruction removals and land use compatibility” relating to the development of Lambert Airport’s longest runway, 12R-30L (11,018 feet). When the bodies were relocated it was one of the largest mass removals of graves in American history. Anywhere from 11,000 to 13,000 (of the over 50,000) graves were said to have been removed. However, elders claim remaining bodies were simply paved over again. Washington Park Cemetery holds Heritage, Culture and Ancestry. Our goal is to not only respect and connect with our past, but to learn how to move forward into the future with these living wage skills and a greater understanding of this ancestral heritage site. Through this work our youth and young adults gain practical, hands-on Preservation experience with Geospatial Technology, Ancestry and Data Tracking, Landscaping and Ground Maintenance, Tree and Road Services, Civil Engineering, Project Management, Community Advocacy and Leadership. With these skills we will all become more familiar with protecting our heritage, ancestral data, artifacts and mapping our genealogical trees to trace the known - and unknown - aspects of our lineages that have been lost to generations of injustice. Washington Park holds the legacies of local Role Models who show them examples of victory over circumstance. Armed with this knowledge our youth may see themselves in a different light and may even move into careers they previously suspected were off limits to them. Our community will be able to reconnect with their ancestral roots, while building on a foundation of guidance through their work.

2 𝐃𝐫. 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬 was a pioneer dentist and civil rights leader who helped organize the St. Louis Urban League and St. Louis NAACP. Curtis was born November 30, 1862 in Marion, Alabama to parents who were enslaved. His father, Alexander H. Curtis, later became the State Senator of Alabama and helped raise money to build Lincoln Normal School. The school later became Alabama State University in 1867. After completing his education at State Normal School, Thomas began a teaching career in Texas. However, he soon gave that up and entered Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated with honors in 1889 and became the first black dentist of Alabama. As a dentist, Curtis was earning around $2,000 a year, which was a great income during that time. He eventually moved to St. Louis around 1896 where he set up practice and remained for the next 45 years. He married Lucy "Lizzie" Simington (1863–1935) and they had 2 children; Lucien Simington Curtis (1893–1983) and Miriam Curtis Ryder (1896–1984) who he was visiting in Dayton, Ohio at the time of his death. Being a prominent and influential man, Thomas Curtis got involved with civil rights. He helped organize various organizations and in 1912 helped with the founding of the St. Louis Argus, an African-American-oriented weekly newspaper. In 1912, the family was living at 4066 Cook Avenue when the windows of their home were broken one Saturday night. Curtis told The Star newspaper that white neighbors had broken the windows in protest of him living there. The family later moved to 4459 Enright Ave. Thomas and Lucy's son, Lucien, received his bachelor's degree at Harvard University in 1919 and his doctorate at Columbia University in 1925. He was an economics professor at Harris Teachers College (now Harris-Stowe State University) for 34 years before retiring in 1964. Thomas’ little brother, William P. Curtis (1868–1945), was the first black physician in St. Louis. Not only did he practice medicine in St. Louis for over 53 years, he was the Treasurer of the Urban League and a director of People's Hospital. He served as its President from 1931 to 1935. (William died of a paralytic stroke 2 years after Thomas at the age of 78. He is buried at St. Peter's Cemetery.) Dr. Thomas Curtis died October 16, 1943 at 80 years old. He was laid to rest in Section 1, Lot 546 of Washington Park Cemetery. His wife, Lizzie, is by his side. Dr. Thomas A. Curtis, Dentist Alexander Curtis Lucien Simington Curtis

3 . George was born to Monroe and Josephine Vaughn in Columbus, KY, where he attended both elementary and high school. He was a graduate of Lane College and Walden University Law School and was later a 1st Lieutenant in the Artillery during World War I. George moved to St. Louis where he practiced law and in 1916 became the first president of the Mound City Bar Association, a bar association for African American lawyers. The St. Louis Bar Association did not admit African Americans at the time. In 1919, George helped found the Citizen Liberty League to help identify and elect more African Americans to public office. In 1936, George was appointed Justice of the Peace for the 4th District of St. Louis after the unexpected death of Charles Turpin on Christmas Day. Although, some opposed because George was living in St. Louis County (330 West Washington Avenue in Kirkwood) at the time, he maintained a residence at 3100 Franklin Avenue In 1941, he was elected Alderman of the 19th Ward. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Philadelphia in 1948, where he led a movement to unseat the Mississippi delegation in the civil rights controversy. George is most remembered for taking on the St. Louis Restrictive Covenant Case, a landmark civil rights case involving Mr. & Mrs. J. D. Shelley, an African American family who had purchased a flat in a white neighborhood in 1945. He fought the case in both the Missouri and US Supreme Courts. Vaughn died unexpectedly of a heart attack (coronary occlusion) on August 17, 1949 at home at 3744 Finney Avenue. He was survived by his wife Eva, two daughters, Caroline and Mary and a son George, Jr. 𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐋. 𝐕𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐧, Supreme Court Attorney

4 was born in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi on March 26, 1905. She married J.D. Shelley on December 14, 1923 when he was almost 16 and she was a little older. Mr. Shelley was a hard worker and found work in the sawmill, railroad, construction industries. J. D. along with his wife, and their six children migrated to St. Louis from Mississippi in the 1930s to escape the pervasive racial oppression of the South. For a number of years, they lived with relatives and then in rental properties. JD came to St. Louis first and worked for about a year making $17 a week while his wife and children stayed in Mississippi. After a year in St. Louis, JD went back down to Mississippi to get them. They rented a place on Francis Avenue before moving to 1121 North 9th Street. Ethel found work at the Welsh baby-carriage factory (1535 S. 8th St.) and during WW2, JD worked at the small-arms bullet plant on Goodfellow. For rental arrangements it was harder to find a place when you had children, and the Shelley's were often turned down. They decided it would be better to purchase a house, so they started saving their money. Since JD's paycheck was more, they saved his income and used Ethel's to take care of the family and the household. After saving a bit of money, JD wanted to buy a car, but Ethel convinced him to buy a home instead. Ethel was a member of the Church of God in Christ and her pastor, Elder Robert Bush, was also in real estate. He told them about the place on Labadie for sale. The Shelleys went to look at the $5,700 house at 4600 Labadie and decided to buy it. The home would be paid off in three years. However, many years before on February 16, 1911, 30 of the 39 neighbors signed an agreement that for 50 years property on Labadie Avenue, between Taylor and Cora Avenue, would not be occupied “by any person not of the Caucasian race.” In fact, 417 blocks in St. Louis were restricted by these agreements. So, in August of 1945, when Josephine Fitzgerald transferred the sale of the lower-level flat to the Shelleys, the day after they moved into the home, their neighbors, the Kraemers, sued and the neighborhood association served JD, 41 and Ethel, 42, with an eviction notice. Although the Shelleys alleged that Louis "Jack" Kraemer didn't own property on the block and they had never seen him around the neighborhood, it was reported that they lived just a few houses up the street at 4532 Labadie Ave. The Shelleys also said that none of the other neighbors had expressed disinterest. In fact, the white tenants that lived in the flat upstairs continued to live there after the Shelleys moved in. The St. Louis African American Real Estate Brokers Association hired George Vaughn to fight the notice. The trial court ruled in the Shelleys’ favor in November of 1945, but when the Kraemers appealed, the Missouri Supreme Court, on December 9, 1946, reversed the trial court’s decision and ordered that the racial covenant be enforced. With the support of the AA Real Estate Brokers Association, three other families in Detroit and Washington, DC, and the 13th & 14th Amendments, George appealed the case to the United States Supreme Court, and on May 3, 1948 the Supreme Court ruled that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks & other minorities were legally not enforceable. The Shelleys lived in the house on Labadie for about ten years until moving to 4746 St. Louis Ave. JD worked in construction until retirement. Ethel retired from maintenance work at the baby carriage factory in 1966. The Shelleys were married for sixty years until her death in 1983. JD died in 1997 at the age of 91. Their son, JD Shelley, Jr. was also buried at Washington Park {Sec 3/313/3}. In 1971, JD Jr., 35, was shot at a tavern at 4606 Easton after an argument over a dice game. Ethel Lampkin Shelley

5 ♞William Herbert Fields Founder & National Grand Master William, the founder & National Grand Master of the Ancient United Knights & Daughters of Africa, United States and Possessions (1908-1929), was born July 19, 1856 in Indiana. Before his work as Grand Master and national organizer, he operated a barber shop at Washington and Jefferson Avenues. At the time of his death the fraternity had a membership of 36,000 and 750 Chapters in 31 states. When he died on February 7, 1929, a parade three blocks long preceded services to the church from his home at 3201 Lucas Avenue. It was led by the regimental band of the United Knights wearing brilliant blue and gold uniforms. They were followed by the Staff Ladies, officers of the national organization who carried long spears and wore white carnations in their hair. The services at Metropolitan AME Zion Church (Lucas Avenue and Garrison Avenue) lasted over 3 hours. At the flower filled funeral, 6 clergymen prayed over the ceremony with over 700 members, Mayor Miller and Circuit Judge Calhoun in attendance. Judge Calhoun spoke of his kindness, honesty and solicitude for the interests of his community. A choir also performed. The Daughters of Africa wearing black sailor hats with broad white bands almost completely filled the lower floor. The Knights wore ornate badges of blue and gold and stood at the sides. The balcony was filled with non-members. On August 3rd, 1931, 3,000 Knights of Africa from all over the country held their 24th Annual Session and tent encampment at Grand Boulevard and Laclede Avenue. Most of the delegates stayed in the private homes of other members in the city. The official band was also headquartered at the camp. The bust of William Herbert Fields was unveiled at the cemetery that week on Wednesday, August 5th. Long before the establishment of the Urban League and the NAACP, the African American community was known for the proclivity of successful organization against adversity in the fight for civil rights. St. Louis became the national headquarters for the prominent fraternal organization, United Knights & Daughters of Africa. This self-selective brotherhood and sisterhood provided mutual aid to members, enacted group rituals, and engaged in community service. Like many philanthropic organizations, the Ancient Order did not survive the Great Depression and membership and lodges slowed to around 500 members in 1941. Although they could no longer pay for burials, they continued to try and honor members with their colorful funeral parades.

6 Prof. William Thomas Ancell Grand Keeper of Records & Seal William was born March 16, 1880 in Huntsville, Missouri to William Ancell, Sr. and Anna Viley. Prof. Ancell was the Grand Keeper of Records & Seal (Secretary) of the Knights of Pythias, a secret fraternal organization. They helped families buy homes and provided insurance, investment and welfare services. They also provided care and burials of the members and their families. In August 1917, after the East St. Louis race riots in July, they provided relief and helped to find and arrest those involved by raising funds to hire detectives and attorneys and pay court fees. They stressed that the safety of the community depended on getting justice through trials and punishment. Before relocating to St. Louis, he was the Grand Chancellor of the Beneficial Board in Huntsville. He became Grand Keeper in 1913 and shared an office with Grand Chancellor (President) A.W. Lloyd on the second floor of 3137 Pine Blvd. He was also on the committee of the St. Louis NAACP, also headquartered at 3137 Pine Street. William, 57, and his wife Lottie, 35, lived at 4430 Page Boulevard with her mother, Thenia Middlebrooks, and their daughter Lottie Ann Ansell. Lottie died of pancreatic cancer in 1959 at the age of 53. William died June 26, 1962 of tuberculosis. He was 82 years old. They were interred in Section 8 near the overgrowth that was recently cleared. (Their large stone is sliding.)

7 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤 Lunsford Williams was born in Louisville, KY. He graduated from Berea College in 1889 and taught in the mountains of Kentucky during the summers. He was an Institute Instructor for both whites and African Americans and also Chair of Mathematics at Louisville High School. Frank went on to earn a master’s degree at the University of Cincinnati in 1908. In August of 1900 he became the principal of William Grant High School in Covington, KY, and was a founding member of the Covington Progressive Building and Loan Association After leaving Covington in 1907, the following year Williams became principal at Sumner High School in St. Louis, and remained there until he was replaced by George D. Brantley in 1932. In 1915, he founded and was president of the 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐀𝐠𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 & 𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 at 4271 W. Easton Avenue until his death in 1952. By 1932, Williams was principal of Vashon High School in St. Louis. He was principal there from 1932-1940. He was also appointed a member of the St. Louis Housing Authority, chairman of the Board of Managers of the Pine Street YWCA and was on the Board of Curators of Lincoln University - Missouri. 𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞 was born in 1899. He started his teaching career at the age of 21 as principal of a combination elementary and high school in Alabama. He was also the director of Adult Education of Negros in Alabama. In 1926, George moved to St. Louis where he became principal of Sumner High School, succeeding founding principal Frank L. Williams. He also became active in the Urban League and on the executive committee of the St. Louis City NAACP. He was on the board of the Missouri Association of Welfare and on the advisory council of the child guidance clinic at Washington University in St. Louis. He was also Vice President of the Nursery Foundation of St. Louis and a Missouri Representative to the 1960 White House Conference in Washington. Mr. Brantley was principal of Sumner High School for 25 years and signed 12,500 diplomas before he retired in 1968. He died after a heart attack in 1971 at the age of 72. 𝐌𝐫𝐬. 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞 Howard 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐲 died 2 years after her husband in 1973. She was born in Danville, Virginia and grew up in Philadelphia. She received a bachelor's degree from Columbia University in the City of New York where she had a Rockefeller Scholarship. Before coming to St. Louis, she taught at colleges in North Carolina and Alabama and was a grad student at the University of Pennsylvania. In St. Louis, she was the director of the Social Planning Council, the YWCA Phyllis Wheatley Center, Planned Parenthood, Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center, the Missouri Association for Social Welfare, the Girl Scouts, the St. Louis Consumers Council of Missouri and the League of Women Voters of Metro St. Louis. They had two children, George H. and Lucille, and lived at 4001 Cook Avenue. James Walter Meyers, 1st Principal of Vashon High School James was born on December 3, 1874 in Marietta, Ohio, to Caleb Myers and Mary Ann Jones. He left Ohio to become an educator. In 1900, James was a teacher at the famed Tuskegee Normal & Industrial Institute, in Macon County in Alabama. (At the time, the school’s principal was Dr. Booker T. Washington, a pioneering educator who served as the new school’s first principal from 1891 to 1915.) James graduated from Stanford University in 1907. He began teaching in the St. Louis Public School system around 1910. He served as a teacher at the old Sumner Normal School (Stowe Teachers College), assistant principal of Sumner High School and first principal at Vashon High School. He served from its opening in 1927 until 1932. The first school newspaper, The Herald, was published during his tenure, and the very first graduating class on January 24, 1928, was comprised of twenty young men and women. The class of 1931 was the first graduation of students who had attended Vashon High School for four complete years. Mr. Myers died February 3, 1956 and is interred in Section 5, Lot 823, Grave 4. George Brantley, 2nd Principal of Sumner High School Frank L. Williams, Banker, 1st Principal of Sumner & 2nd Principal of Vashon

8 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐲𝐫𝐞𝐞 was a beloved African American community leader in the St. Louis area. As chauffer for George Warren Brown of the Brown Shoe Company, (now Caleres) he was the recipient of at least 10 shares of Brown Shoe Company stock after the death of Mr. Brown. These stock investments allowed Myree to build wealth, which he constantly invested into the African American community. He was active in the affairs of the Pine Street YMCA for more than 30 years. He was also on the sponsoring committee for the United Negro College Fund (Missouri/Kansas) campaign in 1946. Preston was born in Perryville, Alabama in 1872. He came to St. Louis in 1891 and went to work for Mr. Brown in 1898. When the Brown family moved to 40 Portland Place, Myree lived there with them. He took care of the four horses and drove the family to church every Sunday. He hitched a horse to the runabout Mr. Brown drove to his office before the automobile became into use. Then he drove the family automobiles. He worked for the Brown family for over 25 years. In 1915, he became the Vice President of the African American owned 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐀𝐠𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤. In 1958 with the grand opening of the new building located at 1401 N. Kingshighway Blvd., it boasted that it was "one of America's most beautiful financial buildings." The bank provided modern service through drive-up banking and several teller windows, and an all-black staff served customers in the new facility that was evidence of black business success. It remained the only black-owned financial institution in St. Louis into the 1960s. Preston Myree died November 22, 1961 after a few weeks of illness. He is interred in Section 1. When Preston died in 1961 at the age of 88, his estate, valued at $256,054 made headlines. It included his Brown Company stock, valued at more than $58,000, 17 parcels of real estate valued at $103,300 and $82,361 in bank accounts and insurance. Unfortunately, it would soon be gone. Preston, who lived at 3940 Cook Avenue, was never married. His will named the executor, Harry Allmon; his attorney, Ellis Outlaw; and Central Baptist Church (at Ewing & Washington Avenue) as the main beneficiaries. It was contested by his 12 nephews, nieces and other relatives who were left $500 each. They argued that the will was executed just 2 months before Myree died when he was of unsound mind. The will left all of Myree's stock and some real estate to Allmon, which he put in a trust for his 5 children. Mr. Outlaw received the remaining real estate, and the church received 10 percent of the estate. (Less than a year after he was named the (alleged) sole heir to the over $250,000 estate, Mr. Allmon was charged with cashing worthless checks for $20.22 and $25.62 at a local Kroger.) Preston Myree, Chauffer & Philanthropist

9 Nannie Mitchell, "The First Lady of the Negro Press," was born in 1887 in Alexander City, Alabama. Although she had only completed the 5th grade, when she was 16 her neighborhood raised funds to send her to the TUSKEGEE Institute. However, just as she was packing her bags, 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦 𝐌𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥, asked her to marry him. She said yes. 󱱨󱱩󱱪 Her mother did not want her to marry so young. She wanted her to continue her schooling. Later, in a 1967 speech at a ceremony held at The Chase and filled with admirers there to present her with the Distinguished Editor Award, Nannie recalls her mother telling her, "Nannie, you're nothing but a girl, and if you make your bed hard, you'll just turn over that much more often. But I won't stop you." They would be happily married for 40 years. They also built an empire. Many who knew Nannie described her as a huge personality in a tiny frame, and that, even without speaking you knew she was special. William & Joseph Mitchell, Publishers The Mitchells got married and moved to St. Louis on a mule and horse with William's brother, Joseph, in 1904, just as the rest of the world came here for the World's Fair. Their son Frank was born in 1905, and Mrs. Mitchell went back to school at Vashon High School, then Sumner High School. She loved school. In 1907, the brothers formed the We Are Rising Insurance Company. Mr. Mitchell had graduated from Montgomery College and Joseph "Joe" (later “J.E.”) was working as a houseman at a rooming house. Nannie said it was always Joe who had the ideas and started things, while her husband went along with them and helped carry them out. Nannie Mitchell, Publisher Four years later, it was Joe's idea to start a "little newspaper" to tell about the African American community in St. Louis. Neither of them had ever heard of a "negro-run" newspaper before. They definitely didn't have one in Alabama. But William agreed and they went around to get store advertisements, loans and a small office. The name, Argus, refers to Argus Panoptes - a creature from Greek mythology with a hundred eyes that never closed at the same time. The newspaper was to be a never-sleeping crusader. It would publish the stories that would help the influx of southern blacks who were pouring into St. Louis deal with the "vagaries" of northern segregation. It would also organize the black community for political action.

10 In 1912, they printed 500 copies of their 1st 6-page tabloid, and newsboys sold it on the street corner for 5 cents. They opened a print shop at 2314 Market St. To make ends meet in the beginning, Nannie picked up day work where she would bring the baby and hide him next to the washing machine. She would then go back to the office to work there before her husband even realized she was gone. She worked in the office every day, sometimes running the press, and always supervising the newsboys. As time passed the Mitchells became even more involved in the community. The Argus helped sponsor programs like the Citizen’s Liberty League. Together the Citizen’s Liberty League and the Argus helped African Americans gain jobs in the fire and police departments and increased black power in politics as well. They sponsored youth sports teams and Nannie even "refereed" the first interracial basketball game in St. Louis. She joined the boards of the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA, the Page Park Branch YMCA, and many others. The St. Louis American was founded in response to the Argus in 1928 when Judge Nathan B. Young and several other recognized African American businessmen, including Homer G. Phillips, felt that there was a need for a paper that provided an alternative perspective to the singular conservative African-American newspaper available to the black community at the time. They set up shop in the People’s Finance Building nearby at Jefferson & Market (11 N. Jefferson Avenue). In 1937, the newspaper records were destroyed by fire and the publishing house was severely damaged. And in 1947, the newspapers mechanical workers held a strike. Yet, not once in 55 years, did the Argus miss an issue, even when William died in 1945. Later, after Mr. Mitchell, 48, died on March 10, 1945, Nannie married Young Turner. (When her second husband died, she went by the name Nannie Mitchell-Turner because she "was blessed with two fine men, and I wanted to keep both their names.") Nannie began writing a column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1968 and worked alongside her son, Frank, at the Argus until her death. Well into her 80s, she drove herself to work and was the first in the office every morning, and often the last to leave. Nannie, 88, died at DePaul Hospital on January 25, 1975 and was buried with her husband William in Section 1, Lot 839. She lived at 4903 Highland. Joseph, 76, died in 1952 at St. Mary's Infirmary. He is also buried in Section 1, Lot 839. After her death, her grandson, Eugene Mitchell, medical director of Homer G. Phillips Hospital and Washington University professor, took over full control of the operation.

11 Crittenden E. Clark, 1st African American Justice of the Peace (Judge) 1922 Crittenden was born February 17, 1872 in Greensburg, Indiana to George Clark and Beatrice LaVelle. He was a respected attorney in private practice in St. Louis. He graduated in 1897 from the Washington University School of Law. He was married to Alma A. Thompson, a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, and they lived at 2814 Lawton. Crittenden became well known by 1916 when he sued the United Railway Company for $5,000. In December of 1919, he and attorneys George Vaughn, Missouri Grand Knights of Pythias Grand Chancellor Aaron Lloyd, and Argus publisher Joseph Mitchell formed the Citizens Liberty League to see more blacks elected to public office and serving on party committees. It helped Walter Moore win election to the Missouri General Assembly in 1920, and Clark to be elected as the first black Justice of the Peace. Crittenden also served as the Grand Master of MO for the Most Worshipful Prince Hall, Grand Lodge of MO (PHA-F&AM). He died on October 10, 1950 and is interred in Section 3, Lot 260 with his wife, Alma. Lt. Ira Cooper, 1st African American Police Sergeant (1923) & Lieutenant (1930) Ira grew up in Mexico, Missouri, the son of schoolteachers. He attended college, earning a master’s degree at the Northern Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago. He moved to St. Louis and “hung out a shingle”. He worked for the U.S. Subtreasury as an Assistant Treasurer, and wrote for the St. Louis Palladium, an African-American Republican weekly. Later, he worked for the post office. Two friends said the police department was looking to hire blacks and he should apply. Cooper was earning $50 a month. As an officer he could earn $65, so he tested. At the time, the city’s police regularly refused to hire qualified blacks, and from 1901 to 1921 black police officers who were hired were “Negro Specials,” only allowed to patrol black neighborhoods and do special duty. The police board determined the number of African Americans they wanted, hiring only that many, usually one or two. Black officers were also ostracized, segregated, and rarely promoted. “I soon discovered that a Negro eye doctor would starve to death—there wasn’t enough work to keep him busy,” Cooper said in an article in the Pittsburgh Courier in 1926. “So, I looked for something better.” • • Cooper was the exception. After being hired as a probationary policeman attached to the Detective Bureau, he became a plainclothes detective just a year later in 1907. Stout, slow-moving, and soft spoken, Cooper was, almost unexpectedly, one of the best cops on the force and called in to solve cases others could not crack. He realized that train thefts totaling more than $40,000 were inside jobs; he solved the kidnapping case of grandson of August A. Busch, the beer baron of Anheuser-Busch brewery; and he located stolen jewels, earning a $3,000 reward, the largest ever given to a detective in St. Louis. He reportedly solved every case he was given. He died February 15, 1939 at the age of 61 and is interred in Section 8, Lot 1436 with his wife and Eastern Star, Mattie.

12 In May 1944, the newly formed Citizens Civil Rights Commission set its sights on department store lunch counters, which were always closed to black shoppers and diners. Jasper led a letter campaign for city hall and other city buildings protesting desegregation in lunch rooms. As a result, an ordinance was passed in April 1944 and it became a misdemeanor for any public lunchroom owned by the city to exercise discriminatory practices. In 1945, as Alderman of the 6th Ward he introduced a bill to the city charter to prohibit race discrimination on the hiring, firing and promotion of city employees. He was reelected as Alderman in 1947. In 1950, he unsuccessfully ran for Congress as a Republican. John Tolbert Caston (Nov 11, 1860 - Feb 15, 1934) was a notable clergyman, civic leader and physician. Ordained in 1887, he graduated from Western Bible College (1895) and Meharry Medical College (1899). He founded the Western Baptist Seminary in Kansas City. His father, Jonathan L. Caston (Nov 12, 1831 - Sep 12, 1916), was a “Buffalo Soldier” and member of the 55th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, one of the first African American regiments organized for the American Civil War. He enlisted June 12, 1863 and was discharged for physical disability in September 1864. Three generations of Caston men helped to advance the African American community in St. Louis. Rev. Jasper Chandler Caston was born December 28, 1898 to John Tolbert Caston and his wife, Leota, in Macon, Missouri. He graduated from Western Bible College and passport records indicate he was performing missionary work in Liberia as early as January of 1924. After his return to America in 1926, he pastored churches across the St. Louis region; including Memorial Baptist Church. In 1941, he was appointed Missouri’s first African American liquor inspector, providing him with prestige and a generous salary. In 1934, Caston ran unsuccessfully for State Representative of St. Louis City’s Fourth District, but in March of 1943, 44-year-old Caston won the Republican nomination for Alderman of the Sixth Ward. The following month he ran against a white opponent, Democratic candidate Joseph B. Schweppe. The heavily African American populated Sixth Ward overwhelmingly elected the Republican candidate, Caston, as Alderman in a landslide victory (1642-422). Jasper was killed November 13, 1950 when the car he was driving near Hannibal, Mo. swerved to avoid a bus that had stopped to take on passengers and instead hit it head on. He is interred with his brother, Joseph, and his parents, John & Leota, in Section 5, Lot 493.

13 Detective Sergeant Charles E. James, DSN 7803, was hired as a Police Cadet for the Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department on 06/22/1970. In this capacity he worked at the Police Academy, Communication's Division, District 6, and finally the Watchmen's Division. On 04/03/1972 he received his commission and entered the police academy. Upon completion of the academy, he held the following assignments during his tenure with the department. They were the 1st, 8th, 3rd, 5th, and finally the Tactical Anti-Crime Team (T.A.C.T.). During his career he was awarded 3 Chief Letters of Commendation on 06/07/1976, 08/16/1976, and 06/17/1977 for police work above the call of duty. Officer James resigned his commission on 06/29/1978 to seek gainful employment with other law enforcement agency in the Saint Louis area. At the time he had served 8.02 years of faithful and dedicated service to the Saint Louis Police Department. Detective Sergeant Charles E. James, 31, of the Pine Lawn Police Department was shot and killed while he and other members of the agency were executing a search warrant on a residence. Sergeant James was the first member of the team to make entry through the door and was shot when the suspect opened fire. The other officers took the suspect into custody. Officer James was a veteran on the United States Army and attained the rank of Specialist 2nd Class. On September 4th, 1987, five people were shot and killed at the National Supermarket located at 4331 Natural Bridge. At approximately 11:00 pm that night two gunmen entered the grocery store. After forcing the employees down to the ground, they made them lay side-by-side, and began to fire multiple shots at their heads killing them "execution style." Five people died that day: four men and a woman. Two men managed to make it out with gun wounds. The victims included David Spahn, 27, security guard, Michael "Mike" Marr, 16, bagger, Rose M. Brown, 49, cashier, Kenneth Bass, 27, janitor, and Michael L. Bean, 34, stock manager. An employee of the supermarket was told by police that the shooters used the security guard’s bullets to reload their guns after running out. The two gunmen were later found and identified as Marvin Jennings and Donnie Blankenship. Blankenship was sentenced to life imprisonment. Jennings was sentenced to five consecutive life prison terms without parole. About 1000 friends and relatives, 13 police cars attended Marr's services at Northern Baptist Church in north St. Louis. The church sat 550 mourners. Hundreds had to remain outside. Among those present were US Rep. WIlliam Clay, D-Missouri, whose wife was Marr's aunt. On the morning of February 28, 1983, two men were rummaging through the basement of an abandoned apartment building at 5635 Clemens Avenue. They made a gruesome discovery, the body of a young girl about 8-11 years old. Due to the lack of blood at the scene, police concluded that she had been killed elsewhere. Police checked local missing child reports, but could not discover the girl's identity. Every potential lead led nowhere. Any time a clue arose, it led to only more questions. She was eventually interred nine months after her death. At the time of her death, Little "Jane Doe" was about 4'10" tall and weighed 70 pounds. She had no scars, deformities, or any other infirmities, and appeared well-nourished. She was wearing a yellow V-necked sweater at the time of her death and her fingernails had two coats of red nail polish. Some believe that she may have been from another part of the country, as no missing persons reports in the Bi-State area match her, nor do any others anywhere else. This remains one of the most baffling criminal cases in St. Louis history.” (In 2013, Little Jane Doe was removed to undergo DNA testing of her remains. They were unable to determine her identity or birth origin.) Her stone is still in Section 6. Revered ministers, respected educators and attorneys, noted civil rights leaders, physicians, and beloved family members are not the only ones buried at the cemetery. Washington Park Cemetery is the final resting place for many U.S. Servicemen who chose to be buried by family members and near the homes of their loved ones, as opposed to the rather far away Jefferson Barracks Cemetery. Veterans buried at the cemetery have served in the American Civil War, Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. With military stones found destroyed throughout the cemetery - that once represented their devoted service in these six U.S. wars - survivors are lamenting their veterans’ decisions to be buried at the deteriorating Washington Park Cemetery which has no perpetual care funds. Adolphus Lewis, 7, was one of the very first burials at the new cemetery in 1921. His was also the only above-ground sarcophagus in Washington Park Cemetery. Unfortunately, his grave was often vandalized over the years and by 2012 the above ground structure had finally deteriorated beyond repair. Teens had gotten inside, taken photos, stolen remains and destroyed his stone. Volunteers came together to rebury Adolphus in Section 1 near the entrance of the cemetery. Using marble from his original tomb, they made a bench in front of his new gravesite. Adolphus was riding his bike when he was hit by a car driven by millionaire John H. Vette, an infamous crooked loan shark and alcoholic. At the time he had multiple lawsuits and restraining orders against him by men and women, including a man who was also hit by an automobile driven by Vette in 1917.

14 Other notable Washington Park legacies: 𝐃𝐫. 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐲 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐬, 𝐉𝐫. - dental surgeon and father of jazz musician, Miles Davis 󰐞󰐟󰐠󰐡󰐢󰐣󰐤󰐥󰐦󰐧󰐨󰐩󰐪󰐫󰐬󰐭󰐮󰐯󰐰󰐱󰐲󰐳 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐅𝐞𝐮𝐠𝐡 - caretaker of Shaw's Garden (Missouri Botanical Garden) and confidante of Henry Shaw 󱍀󱍁󱍂󱍃󱍄󱍅󱍆󱍇󱍈󱍉󱍊󱍋󱍌󱍍󱍎󱍏 𝐀𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 - businessman and ex-husband of Annie Turnbo  𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐇𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐬𝐨𝐧 - ragtime musician  𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐮𝐤𝐚 𝐊𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐚𝐝𝐚 𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐣𝐚𝐚 𝐌𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐳𝐢 - spiritual leader of The Unity Center of Christianity, founder of the Paris Jackson Ian Dream Fund, Graduation Angel Program, Food Outreach programs  𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 & 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦 𝐄. 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫 - founders of Officer Funeral Home  𝐑𝐞𝐯. 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐋. 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 - one of the 1st African Americans in Missouri to be elected to a school board; Johnson Wabash School Elementary School PRINTS OF THIS BOOKLET SPONSORED BY: 𝐂𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐖𝐚𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐨 Perry Piers Civil War Hero James Woolfolk 𝐂𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐖𝐚𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐨 James Rawlings 𝐂𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐖𝐚𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐨 Royal June Thomas WW1 𝗕𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗼 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐫 Charles Udell Bolar ….and many more! ResearcherWashington UniversityRebecca Dudley

15 Cat tails/Flooding Cell Phone Tower DDI Media Billboards Metrolink Light rail TIMELINE 1920: Land purchased from grain merchant, B.H. Lang; Cemetery is founded by lawyer, Andrew Henry Watson and Real Estate Board member, Joseph Hauer as a for-profit burial place for African Americans 1953: Washington Park ends interments 1955: Founders sell the cemetery to Harlan Brown and Manual Laskey; The construction of Interstate 70 bisects the cemetery, stranding the approx. 15,000 burials in the northern section from the rest of the site. 1965: Burials resume 1972: The airport acquired 9 acres for an expansion 1986: DDI Media purchases 2.86 acres and installs three 2-sided billboards amid the graves 1990: Mismanagement discovered and civil suits begin. Ms. Younger commits suicide leaving the cemetery without ownership and in complete disrepair; Cemetery placed on auction block 1992: The City of St. Louis condemned the northern half of the cemetery to make room for the Metrolink light rail system and further expansion of Lambert Airport. In all, somewhere between 11,974 and 13,600 souls were said to have been disinterred and relocated to 23 area cemeteries 1995: Ronald Kuper and partner Charles Clardy purchase the cemetery for $3,500 1996: Cell phone tower installed in Section 9 (now 1A) near the entrance 2006: Kevin Bailey, whose grandfather is interred at WPC, purchased the cemetery for $2 FACTS 42,000+ burials 42 acres (remaining of 75) Graves are interred consecutively and face east per Landscape and Architectural Design Nominated for the National Historic Registry in 2022 Currently in a Trust of St. Louis County due to unpaid taxes Washington Park Cemetery is an inactive cemetery that reached its largest size in 1920 (75 acres) and was reduced to its current 42 acres during the mid-twentieth-century. In 1985, Drury Displays Inc. (DDI Media) purchased a strip of the cemetery along Highway 70, including the Children’s Section, Sections 10, 13 & 14. These sections continue to be desecrated by drainage, overgrowth, flooding and headstones that have been mowed over and destroyed for 30 years. Rallys Travelocity Dry Cleaners NEEDS Full Time Maintenance Crew County/City and Community Partnership Endowment Fund established for Perpetual Care Missouri legislation for support similar to Virginia SB 1128 and HB 2681 Highway 70 1920