A team behind the restoration and preservation work at Good Shepherd and Magnolia cemeteries in Greenwood is working to have the two sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The addition of these two cemeteries, which are located along Avenue N, would open the door for more funding to assist with restoration and preservation, in addition to “showcasing the significance of this area,” said Brantley Snipes, a landscape architect and executive director of Main Street Greenwood.
Snipes, Mayor Carolyn McAdams, the Leflore County Board of Supervisors and Humans of Greenwood, a nonprofit created to spearhead the cemeteries’ preservation work, have all been involved in the process to get the cemeteries added to the national register.
Snipes said the process is extensive and involves a lot of paperwork.
The two cemeteries serve as the resting place for numerous Black residents, many of whom had left their mark in the community or elsewhere. They include civil rights activists such as Dr. Endesha Ida Mae Holland as well as veterans.
Beginning in 2019, residents of the neighborhood where the cemeteries are, such as Ward 7 Councilman Carl Palmer and Lamar Liddell, who worked for the U.S. Forest Service, began to clean up the cemeteries. Since then, debris and litter have been picked up, lights have been added and grave markers have been refurbished. There are also plans to add lights, benches, fencing, entry arches and a memorial wall.
In November 2019, the nonprofit Humans of Greenwood, with “Humans” serving as an acronym for Honoring Urban Mainstays, Ancestral Neighborhoods & Streets, was formed to assist with the cemeteries’ restoration and document on its Facebook page the life stories of some of the people buried in the cemeteries.
To have the cemeteries added to the National Historic Register, Snipes and her team are working with Jaime Destefano, a Texas-based consultant, to conduct a survey to assess what historically notable individuals are buried there.
In addition, Snipes said she is writing grant applications to secure funding for the restoration, including applying for the National Park Service’s Underrepresented Community Grant Program, which works to diversify the nominations submitted to the National Register of Historic Places.
Palmer, whose ward includes the cemeteries, said, “I think it’s a great idea to try and have those cemeteries put on the National Register. It would probably make us eligible for national grants.”
He said there is “a lot of work involved in keeping the cemetery up” but added that the work is needed.
“You have a number of civil rights workers buried out there. Then you have a lot of soldiers that are buried out there,” he said.
For more information, visit the Humans of Greenwood Facebook page.
•Contact Gerard Edic at 581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
