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News reports in 2019 stated that the city of
Berkeley would be purchasing the cemetery in 2019 for $ 30. Restoration efforts at the cemetery by various volunteer groups are ongoing, in hopes of turning this into a heritage site. As of December 2022, the city's website states that the cemetery remains
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The cemetery ceased business operations in the late 1980s. Local activists and media have highlighted the cemetery for its management, disrepair, and for billboards placed in the cemetery's grounds. In August 2020, those billboards were removed from the cemetery after a lawsuit settlement between
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notions regarding land rights, equal interment, and use of public parks, they defended the rights of black visitors to picnic on the grounds. As a result, they were the subject of criticism for, “disrupting bucolic country land with the presence of black St. Louisans.”
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site for
African Americans, eventually becoming the largest African-American cemetery in the St. Louis region at the time. Whites opposed the construction of the cemetery and though Watson and Hauer were supportive of
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Beginning in the latter half of the 21st century, the cemetery was impacted by three construction projects. In the late 1950s, 75 acres were claimed for
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occurred over several decades for various construction projects. As of 2022, local cleanup efforts continue due to its long-term state of disrepair.
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in private hands. Another news report, in March 2022, stated that the cemetery is in a trust held by St. Louis County because of unpaid taxes.
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billboard company, DDI Media, and area resident Wanda
Brandon's activist group, the Washington Park Cemetery Anti-Desecration League.
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Washington Park
Cemetery was founded in 1920 by businessmen Andrew Henry Watson and Joseph John Hauer as a for-profit, perpetual-care
384:"Billboards tower above headstones in run-down, historic black cemetery. One volunteer says they must go. Others see wider concerns"
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318:"'Something has to be done': Telling the story of one of the oldest black cemeteries in St. Louis"
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493:"Washington Park Cemetery volunteers vow to correct historic Black gravesite's neglect"
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214:(1885–1950) – attorney, known for representing J.D. Shelley in the Supreme Court case
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519:"'Still a struggle': Against odds, Father Dickson Cemetery preserves Black history"
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551:"Buried Legacies: Selected Notable Individuals Buried at Washington Park Cemetery"
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claimed nine acres. In 1992, an expansion to St. Louis's light rail system,
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198:(1876–1952) and William Mitchell (1896–1945) – brothers who co-founded the
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192:(1905–1984) – an educator, muralist, printmaker, and commercial artist.
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Higher Ground: Honoring
Washington Park Cemetery, Its People and Place
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Higher Ground: Honoring
Washington Park Cemetery, Its People and Place
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208:(1891–1964) – ragtime pianist and composer, known for "Lily Rag."
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Other nearby historic
African American cemeteries include the
286:"About the Cemetery: The History of Washington Park Cemetery"
407:"Billboards Above African-American Cemetery Prompt Lawsuit"
252:"Spire employees clean up Washington Park Cemetery Monday"
182:(1898–1962) – dental surgeon and father of jazz musician
449:"Berkeley to buy long-troubled, historic black cemetery"
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Historic
African American cemetery in Berkeley, Missouri
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Missouri
Remembers: Artists in Missouri through 1951
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348:"Washington Park Cemetery: Then and Now"
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680:African-American cemeteries in Missouri
560:. Washington University Digital Gateway
447:Benchaabane, Nassim (October 9, 2019).
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229:List of cemeteries in the United States
136:St. Louis Lambert International Airport
665:African-American history in St. Louis
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382:Benchaabane, Nassim (Jun 16, 2018).
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685:Cemeteries established in the 1920s
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56:4650 James S. McDonnell Boulevard,
675:1980 disestablishments in Missouri
491:Woodbury, Emily (March 25, 2022).
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471:"Washington Park Cemetery North"
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670:1920 establishments in Missouri
625:Saving Washington Park Cemetery
409:. U.S. News & World Report
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451:. St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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631:Washington Park Cemetery
320:. St. Louis Public Radio
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88:Washington Park Cemetery
80:Washington Park Cemetery
22:Washington Park Cemetery
660:Cemeteries in St. Louis
190:Jessie Housley Holliman
164:Father Dickson Cemetery
497:St. Louis Public Radio
434:The St. Louis American
180:Miles Dewey Davis Jr.
103:St. Louis, Missouri
655:Berkeley, Missouri
216:Shelley v. Kraemer
196:Joseph E. Mitchell
160:Greenwood Cemetery
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58:Berkeley, Missouri
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606:December 3,
502:23 December
476:23 December
455:October 27,
184:Miles Davis
146:Restoration
36:Established
649:Categories
528:2021-12-31
262:2022-01-01
235:References
601:240991196
140:MetroLink
564:1 August
413:1 August
390:1 August
367:1 August
354:(2017).
324:1 August
296:1 August
223:See also
170:(1866).
162:(1874),
95:cemetery
52:Location
627:website
218:(1948).
113:History
66:Country
60:, 63134
31:Details
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554:(.jpg)
119:burial
44:Closed
597:S2CID
256:FOX 2
608:2022
566:2019
504:2022
478:2022
457:2019
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39:1920
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