An unleashed dog walks on a pathway at College Memorial Park Cemetery, one of three Black cemeteries in Houston. Although there are plenty of signs telling dog owners to keep their dogs on leash and pick up after them, many seem to have turned the historic Black cemetery into a de facto dog park.
A historical marker on the gravest of John Sessums Jr., the first African American member of the Houston Light Guard, one of the oldest militias in Texas, at College Memorial Park Cemetery on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Houston. The cemetery is one of a few of Houston’s historically Black cemeteries that are in a dire state.
Broken headstones at College Memorial Park Cemetery on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Houston. The cemetery is one of a few of Houston’s historically Black cemeteries that are in a dire state.
For all that the Rev. Jack Yates brought to Houston, you’d think he would have a better final resting place.
Not one where people let their dogs roam loose to potentially urinate on the headstones. Or one where overgrown weeds and brush make it difficult to determine where bodies are buried. Those are only a few of the issues at College Memorial Park Cemetery, a scantly manicured five-acre patch of land in what is quickly becoming an upscale neighborhood along West Dallas Street, between Shepherd and Dunlavy.
Yates, who helped establish Emancipation Park in Third Ward and was one of the esteemed members of Freedmen's Town in Fourth Ward, is buried here. It’s one of Houston's three remaining Black cemeteries, and one of 1,700-plus Texas Historic Commission cemeteries statewide.
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If you drive along West Dallas, you might miss the cemetery, sandwiched between a swanky multiuse development and a strip of townhomes. There are small red signs posted throughout the burial ground urging pet owners to respect the sacredness of the space. At the bottom of each is a quote by Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes about holding onto dreams. Hughes would be appalled, but probably not surprised, that such a reminder is necessary.
RELATED: The Rev. John Henry Yates: A shining legacy unfettered
Black cemeteries nationwide often have lacked both historical record-keeping, as well as proper maintenance and support. Volunteers try as best they can to keep them up, but, without a robust preservation budget, it's almost impossible.
What’s happening at College Memorial Park is even more infuriating given Yates’ profile and the number of other prominent Black people buried there. In all, 5,000 Black men, women and children are resting there, many of them formerly enslaved and several of them Buffalo Soldiers. The cemetery gets its name from a Black junior college that was once located nearby.
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A not-for-profit organization has made some progress in cleaning the grounds and cataloging graves, but its website seems to have not been updated in the past year or so. I called and emailed leaders of the College Park Cemetery Association board. I’m still waiting for replies.
Based on my recent visits, the association still holds cleanups and headstone-repair efforts, and its website includes a GoFundMe campaign link that has raised only $10,000 of a $20,000 goal. The association says it has confirmed the locations of fewer than 2,000 of the cemetery’s inhabitants, and that only 350 headstones are in place.
This seems like a good opportunity for government to step up. In 2022, Congress passed the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Act, which established a National Park Service program to provide $3 million in competitive grants to identify, research, and preserve Black cemeteries.
Congress has yet to appropriate the funding for the program, though. Maybe the Houston City Council could apply some pressure, or contemplate using city funds to turn the cemetery into the cultural and educational gem it could be?
RELATED: Mural at Jack Yates High School honors alumnus George Floyd
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For now, Yates’ descendants can only hope.
“Historically, Black cemeteries weren’t owned by Black people and were not maintained unless it was called to their attention,” said Jacqueline Whiting Bostic, Yates’ great-granddaughter who serves on the board of the Emancipation Park Conservancy and is a member of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, where Yates was a pastor.
Bostic said Yates was originally buried at Olivewood Cemetery, which is the city’s first incorporated Black cemetery established in 1875 and situated near White Oak Bayou. Once College Memorial Park was developed, he was moved there to be closer to his home in Freedmen’s Town.
“It’s still disappointing that there is not a greater effort to preserve our cemeteries,” she told me.
On a day I visited, workers were installing a small chain-link fence to try to keep dogs out. A large, city dog park is less than a mile away off Allen Parkway. Can’t people take their dogs there?
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If it weren't for the Texas Historical Commission's marker detailing Yates' life and legacy, few would know he was buried in College Memorial Park.
Amid the weeds, there's a small headstone, decorated with a bouquet of fake white flowers, that reads simply, "Family of Jack Yates."
It’s unsettling and it’s wrong. If you have ideas on how to help restore this piece of our city’s history, write me at Joy.Sewing@houstonchronicle.com.
Longtime Houston Chronicle journalist Joy Sewing now reports and opines on issues including social justice, politics, race, education, health care and inequity as a news columnist.
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