South-View 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 ensl ...

-founded cemetery located approximately 15 minutes from downtown

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

. An active operational cemetery on over 100 acres of land, it is the oldest

cemetery in

and the oldest African-American “non eleemosynary” corporation in the country. Founded in 1886, it has since served as the burial place for many leaders in the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

including

Julian Bond Horace Julian Bond (January 14, 1940 – August 15, 2015) was an American social activist, leader of the civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While he was a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the e ...

and

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

was originally buried here but was later moved to the King National Historic Park in Atlanta.

History

Founded February 1886, the cemetery was an effort of nine

businessmen including Jacob McKinley, George W. Graham, Robert Grant, Charles H. Morgan, John Render and Albert Watts, all who wanted a safe, secure place where their family members could be buried with dignity in the midst of backlash to

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

.. The State of Georgia approved its charter in April 1886. Albert H. Watts, grandson of co-founder Albert Watts, served as Southview Cemetery's President-Treasurer from 1977 until his death in 2001. Current President, Winifred Hemphill, several stockholders, Board members and members of the staff are descendants of the founders. The cemetery has both perpetual care and non-perpetual care areas. All new lots are sold with perpetual care, but many historic family plots were not. As a result, some portions of the cemetery have "suffered from neglect". A non-profit foundation was created in 2004 to raise money, conduct preservation projects and provide care for historic parts of the cemetery. A cell phone tour of the cemetery was created in a collaborative effort with Oakland Cemetery to provide biographical details about African Americans interred at the two cemeteries. Visitors can obtain a site map at the visitors center, and each of the 14 stops on the tour is marked with a granite marker. The visitor can call a phone number and dial each stop number as they arrive at it, to hear information. The cemetery celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2011, and at that time Atlanta mayor

Kasim Reed Mohammed Kasim Reed (born June 10, 1969) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 59th mayor of Atlanta, Georgia's state capital and largest city, from 2010 to 2018. A Democrat, Reed was a member of the Georgia House of Represe ...

gave it the city's Phoenix Award for its contributions to the city. For many years South-View was paid by the city of Atlanta to provide spaces for African-Americans buried at city expense. Two printed guidebooks to the cemetery have been published.

Notable interments

Twenty-two people are buried in the cemetery that have or have had schools in the

Atlanta Public Schools Atlanta Public Schools (APS) is a school district based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is run by the Atlanta Board of Education with superintendent Dr. Lisa Herring. The system has an active enrollment of 54,956 students, attending a t ...

named for them. With the exception of

, who is buried at the

Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park covers about 35 acres (0.14 km2) and includes several sites in Atlanta, Georgia related to the life and work of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Within the park is his boyhood h ...

, all the deceased pastors of Atlanta's historic

Ebenezer Baptist Church Ebenezer Baptist Church is a Baptist church located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with the Progressive National Baptist Convention and American Baptist Churches USA. It was the church where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was co-past ...

are buried here as of 2016. Veterans who served in every war since World War I are buried in the cemetery, including two members of the

Tuskegee Airmen The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the United States Army ...

. An annual ceremony as part of

Wreaths Across America Wreaths Across America is an American nonprofit organization established in 2007 by wreath producer Morrill Worcester, assisted by veterans and truckers. Its primary activity is distributing Veteran's wreaths for placement on graves in military c ...

has been held in December starting in 2010. Notable people buried here include: *

Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. One of the gre ...

(February 5, 1934 -January 22, 2021), former Major League Baseball Hall of Fame player known for breaking Hall of Famer

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

's 714 home run record, finishing with 755 career home runs. * Moses Amos, Georgia's first licensed African-American pharmacist, grandfather of artist Emma Amos * Ludie Clay Andrews, the first African-American granted a nursing license by Georgia * Samuel Howard Archer, 5th president of Morehouse College, namesake of several

* William Barrett, Yusuf Bell, Milton Harvey, Aaron Jackson, Patrick Rogers, Curtis Walker, and Aaron Wyche, who were among the victims of the

Atlanta murders of 1979–1981 The Atlanta murders of 1979–1981, sometimes called the Atlanta child murders, was a series of murders committed in Atlanta, Georgia, between July 1979 and May 1981. Over the two-year period, at least 28 children, adolescents, and adults were k ...

Walt Bellamy Walter Jones Bellamy (July 24, 1939 – November 2, 2013) was an American professional basketball player. A four-time NBA All-Star, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. College career Bellamy chose to play basket ...

(24 Jul 1939 - 2 Nov 2013), a former Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame professional basketball center in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

who won a gold medal in the 1960 Olympic Games who played fourteen seasons with the Chicago Packers/Zephyrs, Baltimore Bullets, New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks and New Orleans Jazz. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993, Bellamy was a charter member of the Indiana University Athletic Hall of Fame, inducted in 1982. * Fred C. Bennette, civil rights leader, aide to Martin Luther King, Jr. * Jesse B. Blayton, radio entrepreneur and civil rights activist * Horace A. Bohannon, a Tuskegee Airman who co-founded the Atlanta Chapter Tuskegee Airmen in 1976 *

Horace Mann Bond Horace Mann Bond (November 8, 1904 – December 21, 1972) was an American historian, college administrator, social science researcher and the father of civil-rights leader Julian Bond. He earned a master's and doctorate from University of C ...

,(8 Nov 1904 - 21 Dec 1972). Noted historian, educator and father of noted Civil Rights leader

, He was an influential leader at several historically black colleges and was appointed the first president of Fort Valley State University in Georgia in 1939, where he managed its growth in programs and revenue. In 1945 he became the first African-American president of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania. 2] and president of President of Atlanta University. *

, (14 Jan 1940 - 15 Aug 2015). Born Horace Julian Bond Jr., Bond was a prominent Civil Rights Leader, former Chairman of the National NAACP, and former Georgia House of Representative who co-founded and lead the

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white s ...

. He helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. * William Holmes Borders, civil rights activist, pastor of

Wheat Street Baptist Church Wheat Street Baptist Church is a historic black Baptist church located in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1869, the current building was constructed in 1921 and is located adjacent to the Martin Luther King Jr. Na ...

Ariel Serena Hedges Bowen Ariel Serena Hedges Bowen (March 3, 1863 – July 7, 1904) was an African-American writer, temperance activist, and professor of music at Clark University in Atlanta in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. ''Twentieth Century Negro Literature'' ...

, writer, temperance activist * John W. E. Bowen Sr., clergyman, educator * Brailsford R. Brazeal, professor of economics at Morehouse College, civil rights leader * Larry Brown, graduate of Archer High School and

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: ...

football player killed in the

Southern Airways Flight 932 Southern Airways Flight 932 was a chartered Southern Airways Douglas DC-9 domestic United States commercial jet flight from Stallings Field (ISO) in Kinston, North Carolina, to Huntington Tri-State Airport/Milton J. Ferguson Field (HTS) near ...

crash * Raymond Holmes Carter, medical doctor who served in World War I, namesake of Atlanta Medical Association's Nash-Carter Award * Alice Dugged Cary, librarian of the Auburn Avenue library *

Carrie Cunningham Carrie Cunningham (born April 28, 1972) is an American former professional tennis player who played on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Circuit from 1987 until 1994. She comes from the state of Michigan, United States. Career singles highli ...

, owner of the Royal Peacock Club and Royal Hotel * Frank Cunningham, president of Morris Brown College *

John Wesley Dobbs John Wesley Dobbs (March 26, 1882 – August 30, 1961) was an African-American civic and political leader in Atlanta, Georgia. He was often referred to as the unofficial "mayor" of Auburn Avenue, the spine of the black community in the city. ...

, civic leader, unofficial "mayor" of

Auburn Avenue Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Au ...

Mattiwilda Dobbs Mattiwilda Dobbs (July 11, 1925 – December 8, 2015) was an American coloratura soprano and was one of the first black singers to enjoy a major international career in opera. She was the first black singer to perform at La Scala in Italy, th ...

, opera singer * Eleanor Guest, original member of

Gladys Knight & the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s. Starting out as simply ...

* William Guest, member of

* Grace Towns Hamilton, first

woman elected to the Georgia General Assembly * John and Billie Harden, owners of the

Atlanta Black Crackers The Atlanta Black Crackers (originally known as the Atlanta Cubs and later briefly the Indianapolis ABCs) were a professional Negro league baseball team which played during the early to mid-20th century. They were primarily a minor Negro league ...

baseball team * Charles Lincoln Harper, first principal of Booker T. Washington High School, namesake of several other schools since * Geneva Haugabrooks, one of a few women business owners in the

Sweet Auburn Historic District Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones ...

* Freddye Scarborough Henderson, created the first black-owned travel agency in the Southeast * Adrienne McNeil Herndon, educator, actress, wife of Alonzo Herndon *

Alonzo Herndon Alonzo Franklin Herndon (June 26, 1858 Walton County, Georgia – July 21, 1927) was an African-American entrepreneur and businessman in Atlanta, Georgia. Born into slavery, he became one of the first African American millionaires in the Unit ...

, one of the first Black millionaires *

John Hicks Sir John Richards Hicks (8 April 1904 – 20 May 1989) was a British economist. He is considered one of the most important and influential economists of the twentieth century. The most familiar of his many contributions in the field of economi ...

, jazz pianist *

Jesse Hill Jesse Hill Jr. (May 30, 1926 – December 17, 2012) was an African American civil rights activist. He was active in the civic and business communities of the city for more than five decades. Hill was president and chief executive officer of the A ...

, Former President of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company and civil rights activist. *

Graham W. Jackson Sr. Graham Washington Jackson Sr. (February 22, 1903 - January 15, 1983) was an American theatre organist, pianist, accordionist, and choral conductor. He was the subject of a ''Life'' magazine photograph taken at the departure of Franklin D. Roosevel ...

, organist and pianist *

Virginia Lacy Jones Virginia Lacy Jones (June 25, 1912 – December 3, 1984) was an American librarian who throughout her 50-year career in the field pushed for the integration of public and academic libraries. She was one of the first African Americans to earn a ...

, librarian at

Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark Atlanta is the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Southern United States. Fou ...

* Alberta Williams King, Martin Luther King Jr.'s mother *

Alfred Daniel Williams King Alfred Daniel Williams King (July 30, 1930 – July 21, 1969) was an American Baptist minister and civil rights activist. He was the younger brother of Martin Luther King Jr. Early life Alfred Daniel Williams King was born July 30, 1930, i ...

, civil rights leader, brother of Martin Luther King Jr. *

Martin Luther King, Sr. Martin Luther King (born Michael King; December 19, 1899November 11, 1984) was an African-American Baptist pastor, missionary, and an early figure in the Civil Rights Movement. He was the father and namesake of the civil rights leader Martin Lu ...

, Martin Luther King Jr.'s father *

, (21 Feb 1940 - 17 Jul 2020). Former U.S. Congressman, statesman, and

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

activist and leader who served as the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from 1963 to 1966. Lewis was one of the " Big Six" leaders of groups who organized the 1963

March on Washington The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or The Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic righ ...

. He fulfilled many key roles in the

and its actions to end legalized

racial segregation in the United States In the United States, racial segregation is the systematic separation of facilities and services such as housing, healthcare, education, employment, and transportation on racial grounds. The term is mainly used in reference to the legally or ...

. In 1965, Lewis led the first of three

Selma to Montgomery marches The Selma to Montgomery marches were three protest marches, held in 1965, along the 54-mile (87 km) highway from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery. The marches were organized by nonviolent activists to demonstrate the ...

across the

Edmund Pettus Bridge The Edmund Pettus Bridge carries U.S. Route 80 Business (US 80 Bus.) across the Alabama River in Selma, Alabama. Built in 1940, it is named after Edmund Pettus, a former Confederate brigadier general, U.S. senator, and state-lev ...

. In an incident which became known as

Bloody Sunday Bloody Sunday may refer to: Historical events Canada * Bloody Sunday (1923), a day of police violence during a steelworkers' strike for union recognition in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia * Bloody Sunday (1938), police violence aga ...

, state troopers and police attacked the marchers, including Lewis. * Red McAllister, band leader and saxophonist * Homer Erwin Nash, doctor who served in World War I, namesake of Nash-Carter Award, father of

Helen Elizabeth Nash Helen Elizabeth Nash (8 August 1921 – 4 October 2012) was a pediatrician known for breaking racial and gender barriers in the medical field. She began her career at the Homer G. Phillips Hospital, and later worked at the Saint Louis Children� ...

* Dinah Watts Pace, educator * John Andrew Parker, first pastor of

* Duke Pearson, jazz pianist and composer * Donald Reeves, professional baseball player *

Ruby Doris Smith-Robinson Ruby Doris Smith-Robinson (April 25, 1942 – October 7, 1967) worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from its earliest days in 1960 until her death in October 1967. She served the organization as an activist in the fiel ...

, civil rights activist * Herman J. Russell, entrepreneur, civic leader, philanthropist * Frank Smith and George Wilder, victims of the Atlanta Massacre of 1906 * Nathaniel Patrick Tillman, educator and administrator at Morehouse College and

* George Alexander Towns, educator at

, civil rights activist, father of Grace Towns Hamilton *

Henry McNeal Turner Henry McNeal Turner (February 1, 1834 – May 8, 1915) was an American minister, politician, and the 12th elected and consecrated bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). After the American Civil War, he worked to establish new A.M ...

, minister and politician, one of the

Original 33 The "Original 33" were the first 33 African-American members of the Georgia General Assembly. They were elected to office in 1868, during the Reconstruction era. They were among the first African-American state legislators in the United States. ...

* Bazoline Estelle Usher, long-time

educator * Walter Drake Westmoreland, a Tuskegee Airman who received the

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

and

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

Albery Allson Whitman Albery Allson Whitman (May 30, 1851June 29, 1901 was an African-American poet, minister and orator. Born into slavery, Whitman became a writer. During his lifetime he was acclaimed as the "Poet Laureate of the Negro Race". He worked as a manual ...

, minister, poet, orator known as "Poet Laureate of the Negro Race". Also father to the Whitman Sisters. *

Whitman Sisters The Whitman Sisters were four African-American sisters who were stars of Black Vaudeville. They ran their own performing touring company for over forty years from 1900 to 1943, becoming the longest-running and best-paid act on the T.O.B.A. circu ...

Alberta, Essie and Mabel, famous Black Vaudeville performers * Samuel Woodrow Williams, minister, professor and civil rights activist *

Chuck Willis Harold "Chuck" Willis (January 31, 1926 – April 10, 1958) was an American blues, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll singer and songwriter. His biggest hits, " C. C. Rider" (1957) and "What Am I Living For" (1958), both reached No.1 on the ''Bil ...

, singer, songwriter * Billy Wright, blues singer * Asa G. Yancey Sr., medical doctor and educator * Jean Childs Young, educator, wife of

Andrew Young Andrew Jackson Young Jr. (born March 12, 1932) is an American politician, diplomat, and activist. Beginning his career as a pastor, Young was an early leader in the civil rights movement, serving as executive director of the Southern Christian L ...

Former interments

was moved to a tomb at the eventual site of the

King Center for Nonviolent Social Change The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, commonly known as The King Center, is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization in Atlanta, United States. History The center was founded in 1968 by Coretta Scott King, who st ...

on January 13, 1970. *

Henry Ossian Flipper Henry Ossian Flipper (March 21, 1856 – April 26, 1940) was an American soldier, engineer, former slave and in 1877, the first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point, earning a commission as a ...

was reburied in his hometown of

Thomasville, Georgia Thomasville is the county seat of Thomas County, Georgia, United States. The population was 18,413 at the 2010 United States Census, making it the second largest city in southwest Georgia after Albany. The city deems itself the "City of Roses" an ...

on February 11, 1978. *

Benjamin Mays Benjamin Elijah Mays (August 1, 1894 – March 28, 1984) was an American Baptist minister and American rights leader who is credited with laying the intellectual foundations of the American civil rights movement. Mays taught and mentored many in ...

and his wife Sadie Gray Mays were moved to the Morehouse College campus on May 21, 1995.

References

Sources and further reading

* * * * *

External links

Official web site

Historical marker
* {{Find a Grave cemetery, 37101 Cemeteries in Atlanta African-American history in Atlanta 1886 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)