Mount Auburn Cemetery is a historic

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

and national

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Overlooking the Middle Branch of the

Patapsco River The Patapsco River mainstem is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 river in central Maryland that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. The river's tidal port ...

to the east, Baltimore's Downtown to the north and railroad tracks to the south, Mt. Auburn Cemetery is surrounded by the Cherry Hill, Westport,

Mt. Winans "Mount Winans" ("Mt. Winans") is a mixed-use residential, commercial and industrial neighborhood in the southwestern area of the City of Baltimore in Maryland. Its north, south and east boundaries are marked by the various lines of track of the CSX ...

and Lakeland communities.

History

One of the most historic and largest African American cemeteries in Baltimore, Mt. Auburn Cemetery was formed in 1872, by the Reverend James Peck in protest to segregation against the White Methodist Church. Its grounds encompass and holds more than 55,000 interred. Designated on the local and national historic registers, the cemetery was once known as "The City of the Dead for Colored People" since it was the only place a person of color could be buried. Once part of a farm, the land was given to the Methodist Church and assigned to the

Sharp Street Memorial United Methodist Church Sharp Street Memorial United Methodist Church and Community House is a historic United Methodist church located at Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is an 1898 Gothic Revival stone structure of massive proportions. It features sharply pitc ...

to oversee its grounds. Over the years the cemetery has been in total neglect with only a few of its front acreage remaining identifiable as a cemetery. Mt. Auburn Cemetery holds the remains of some of Baltimore's and the nation's "movers and shakers" of the local civil rights movement. In addition to runaway slaves, the cemetery contains the remains of the first African American ship chandler; clergymen; the first female funeral home director, Civil War and civil rights activists, lawyers, doctors, teachers, military veterans, founders of national fraternities’ and sororities’ and the ancestors of thousands of African-American families. Mount Auburn Cemetery was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2001.

Notable interments

Joe Gans Joe Gans (born Joseph Gant; November 25, 1874 – August 10, 1910) was an American professional boxer. Gans was rated the greatest lightweight boxer of all-time by boxing historian and ''Ring Magazine'' founder, Nat Fleischer. Known as the "Old M ...

(1874-1910), first African American lightweight boxing champion of the world (1901-1908). *

William Ashbie Hawkins William Ashbie Hawkins (1862–1941) was one of Baltimore's first African American lawyers. He was born in Lynchburg, Virginia on August 2, 1862 to Reverend Robert and Susan Cobb Hawkins. One of Hawkins grandsons, Cromwell Ashbie Hawkins West, f ...

(1862-1941), early African American bishop in the African Methodist Church, and one of Baltimores first African American lawyers. *

Lillie Mae Carroll Jackson Lillie May Carroll Jackson (May 25, 1889 – July 5, 1975), pioneer civil rights activist, organizer of the Baltimore branch of the NAACP. Invariably known as "Dr. Lillie", "Ma Jackson", and the "mother of the civil rights movement", Lillie May C ...

(1889-1975), pioneering civil rights activist who brought the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...

to Baltimore and was its leader for 35 years. * Edgar Amos Love (September 10, 1891 – May 1, 1974), one of three founders of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

References

External links

*, including photo dated 1997, at Maryland Historical Trust
The Historical Marker Database, Mount Auburn Cemetery Marker"Mobtown Beat: The Plot Sickens, Mount Auburn Cemetery Is Still In Shambles," By Jason Torres, ''Baltimore City Paper'', Posted May 30, 2007

Historic images of Mt. Auburn cemetery from the ''Afro-American'' newspaper
*
Why Are Black & White Funeral Homes STILL Separate?
' documentary short recorded at Mount Auburn Cemetery (2020) {{Authority control Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Cemeteries in Baltimore Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Baltimore African-American cemeteries African-American history in Baltimore Westport, Baltimore Baltimore City Landmarks