Westview Cemetery, located in

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 498,715 ...

, is the largest civilian cemetery in the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

, comprising more than , 50 percent of which is undeveloped. ( Georgia National Cemetery, for military veterans and their families, covers 775 acres.) Westview includes the graves of more than 125,000 people, and was added to the Georgia Register of Historic Places in 2019 and 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 2020.

History

McBurney era (1884–1930)

In May 1884, twenty-seven leading Atlanta citizens, including L.P. Grant, Edward P. McBurney, Jacob Elsas, H.I. Kimball and L. DeGive, petitioned the Superior Court of Fulton County to create the West View Cemetery Association. The association was to be led by secretary and general manager McBurney, who was a capitalist and financier in Atlanta. The petition was granted in June, and during the rest of the year members of the Association gathered approximately 577 acres of farms, homesteads, and undeveloped land, around four miles west of downtown Atlanta, from more than a handful of owners. Burford_Holly

The cemetery buried its first resident – Helen Livingston Haskins – on October 9, 1884. By this time, the cemetery had opened three distinct sections: the main burial sections, originally known as Laurel Hill, Terrace Hill, etc.; Rest Haven, an African-American section; and God’s Acre, a pauper section used by the City of Atlanta until 1925. In 1888, West View Cemetery opened a permanent

receiving vault A receiving vault or receiving tomb, sometimes also known as a public vault, is a structure designed to temporarily store dead bodies in winter months when the ground is too frozen to dig a permanent grave in a cemetery. Technological advancement ...

that was built into the side of a hill in Section 4. It would serve as a temporary storage space for bodies until families could pick out a suitable burial plot or, in winter, store a body until the cemetery grounds were thawed and traversable by horse-drawn carriages. In 1889, a Confederate sculpture was erected, and a burial ground was established within West View to commemorate the Confederate dead of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The statue and burial ground completion ended years of failed attempts to memorialize the war, specifically the Battle of Ezra Church, part of which had taken place on the northern boundaries of the cemetery. In the same year, cemetery officials had discussions with a Jewish congregation about opening a dedicated Jewish burial ground within the cemetery: ultimately the congregations purchased new sections from Oakland Cemetery in downtown Atlanta instead. The

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

gatehouse opened the following year. It was designed by architect Walter T. Downing and contained a waiting room, toilets, and a secretary’s office. The Westview Floral Company, incorporated in 1891, grew flowers at greenhouses on the cemetery property for sale to lot holders and to the public. It also carried out contracted landscape gardening for wealthy Atlantans – be it at their homes or businesses. The Company became the largest greenhouse operator in the south until it was closed. All its structures were removed from the cemetery by 1973. The only two items from the greenhouses that still exist are the 110-foot-high water tower, built in 1921, and a plant that was discovered circa 1895 on the property by then head gardener Thomas Burford – the Ilex cornuta “Burfordii,” or Burford holly. It is now sold the world over as a landscape shrub.

Adair leadership (1930–1933)

In August 1930 the West View Cemetery Association announced to the public that E.P. McBurney would no longer run the cemetery; it would instead be headed by Atlanta real-estate mogul Frank Adair, with his brother, Forrest, acting as vice president.

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

scion Asa Candler Jr. would serve as the association's board president and help guide the cemetery behind the scenes. However, three years later, the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

was in full swing and affected the Adair brothers’ hold on West View. As such, in June 1933, the Adairs relinquished control of West View, and Candler took full control of the cemetery.

Candler era (1930–1952)

Between 1940 and 1950 Candler constructed his version of Hubert L. Eaton’s memorial park at West View, the Garden of Memories. In 1943, construction started on Westview Abbey. Designed by California-based architect Clarence Lee Jay and mausoleum builder Cecil E. Bryan, the abbey contains 11,444 crypts and is designed in the Spanish Plateresque architectural style. The structure is composed of a mausoleum and an administration building. The mausoleum's lower and main floors are complete, but much of the third floor has yet to be built out. Lake Palmyra was completed just southwest of the abbey in 1947. Named after

Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second ...

, the biblical “city of palms” in Syria, Lake Palmyra had at one time a stone pier and, along one of its shores, one of four known versions of

Harriet Hosmer Harriet Goodhue Hosmer (October 9, 1830 – February 21, 1908) was a neoclassical sculptor, considered the most distinguished female sculptor in America during the 19th century. She is known as the first female professional sculptor. Among other ...

's ''Zenobia in Chains'', which had been purchased by Asa Candler in 1943. The lake was drained in the 1970s because of maintenance issues and Zenobia was removed from the grounds. Between 1947 and 1948 Candler built an administration building that partly wrapped around the greenhouse's 1921 water tower. It contained offices, a reception room, a cafeteria and restrooms. It also contained Asa Candler Jr.’s trophy room, billed as one of the largest private trophy rooms in North America, which showcased trophies from Candler’s hunts in Alaska, Africa and elsewhere. The structure was demolished in 1973 and many of the animal specimens were donated to the

Fernbank Museum of Natural History Fernbank Museum of Natural History, in Atlanta, Georgia, is a museum that presents exhibitions and programming about natural history. Fernbank Museum has a number of permanent exhibitions and regularly hosts temporary exhibitions in its expansi ...

. Candler unveiled the Fountain of Life Memorial in 1950. The memorial consisted of a fountain and a

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

depiction of the

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...

sculpted by Fritz Paul Zimmer. The sculpture still exists, but the fountain was removed a few decades later.

West View becomes Westview

Due to advancing age and mounting legal issues, Candler sold West View to Lou O. Minear, Chester J. Sparks and Grover A. Godfrey Jr. in 1951. It was at that time that “West View” became “Westview.” The new owners sold the cemetery to Frank C. Bowen and Raymond B. Nelson in 1952. That year, Westview Cemetery, Inc. was liquidated and all its assets were transferred to The Westview Cemetery, Inc., which became a nonprofit.

Bowen era (1952–present)

Throughout the mid-1950s and into the 1960s, Bowen added eight new memorial park-style sections, such as Garden of Devotion, Garden of the Savior, etc. In 1970, the cemetery, under Bowen’s guidance, officially ended segregation within the main grounds of the property. Additionally, during that decade, there were talks of finishing out the third floor of Westview Abbey. A small portion was completed, but three-fourths remain to be finished. In 1975, Westview staff moved into a new administration building designed by Henry Howard Smith, the son of famed Atlanta architect

Francis Palmer Smith Francis Palmer Smith (March 27, 1886, in Cincinnati, Ohio – March 5, 1971, in Atlanta, Georgia) was an architect active in Atlanta and elsewhere in the Southeastern United States. He was the director of the Georgia Tech College of Architec ...

. The new building sits near the old 1890 gatehouse along Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard. A year prior to the move, Frank Bowen had ceded operations of the cemetery to his son, Charles Bowen Sr. Gatehouse 1907

During the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, Bowen Sr. and Westview opened a couple of

columbaria A columbarium (; pl. columbaria) is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns, holding cremated remains of the deceased. The term can also mean the nesting boxes of pigeons. The term comes from the Latin "'' colu ...

and expanded the maintenance structures. After nearly forty years Bowen Sr. relinquished control of the cemetery to his son, Charles Bowen Jr, in 2014. Later that year, the cemetery celebrated its 130th anniversary and welcomed the publication of John Bayne’s book ''Atlanta’s Westview Cemetery''. The following year, Westview Cemetery opened its grounds for regularly scheduled walking tours conducted by Atlanta Preservation Center tour guides. Because of the cemetery’s size, two tours were developed – the Nineteenth-Century Tour and the Candler-Era Tour. A year later, Westview officials created the Friends of Historic Westview Cemetery, which plans the rehabilitation of Westview’s 1890 gatehouse – offering public restrooms, a museum and gift shop. In 2018, Jeff Clemmons’s ''Atlanta’s Historic Westview Cemetery'' was published. With the support of the Atlanta Preservation Center, Clemmons got the cemetery added to the Georgia Register of Historic Places (2019) and the National Register of Historic Places (2020). Westview Cemetery remains an active cemetery with up to eight burials a day. It has become popular with

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

: filmmakers are at the cemetery throughout the year, filming features and television shows.

Structures

* Westview Abbey – a mausoleum and chapel, was built in 1943 and houses 11,444 entombments and space to hold cremated remains. Twenty-seven stained glass panels adorn the Spanish Gothic-style chapel and depict Jesus Christ's life from nativity through crucifixion and resurrection. A mural entitled Faith, Hope and Charity and several other paintings by Bartholomew Mako also adorn the space. More than 72 stained glass windows appear throughout the entire mausoleum. * The Receiving Tomb – was built in 1888 and once held bodies waiting to be processed and buried. Wagons, and in later years vehicles, carrying the deceased could not get down the muddy cemetery roads during heavy rains. The marble and brick receiving tomb was also used to house bodies during the Spanish influenza outbreak in 1918. * The Water Tower – was built in 1921 and may be mistaken for a battlefield look-out point but was only used to hold water. The top of the tower is an example of a crenellated adornment, making it look more like a castle than the roof of a water tower. *The Confederate Memorial – was erected in 1889 by The Confederate Veterans Association of Fulton County to honor its fallen soldiers. The monument features a stone soldier standing on top of small cannonballs. Two Cohorn mortars lie just beyond a circle of Confederate graves and mark a path leading to the historic monument.

Notable interments

* The entire Adair clan *

Mary Osburn Adkinson Mary Osburn Adkinson (July 28, 1843 – 1918) was an American social reformer active in the temperance movement. She took a leading part in the organization of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Madison, ...

(1843-1918), social reformer * Jim Bagby Sr., the first pitcher to hit a

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in a modern

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* Bob Barrett, Major League Baseball player in the 1920s and 1930s. * Russell L. Beutell, architect of the

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, among other buildings * John S. Bigby,

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Marion L. Brittain Marion Luther Brittain Sr. (November 11, 1866 – July 13, 1953) was an American academic administrator and longest serving President of the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1922 to 1944. Brittain was born in Georgia and, aside from a brief s ...

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of the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

from 1922 to 1944 * Charles M. Brown, politician and namesake of Charlie Brown Field *

William Butt William Moore Butt (1805–1888) was a politician in Georgia. Butt arrived in Atlanta in 1851 from Campbell County, Georgia Campbell County was a county of the U.S. state of Georgia from to . It was created by the state legislature on De ...

, eighth mayor of Atlanta (1854 - 1855) *

Asa Candler Asa Griggs Candler (December 30, 1851 – March 12, 1929) was an American business tycoon and politician who in 1888 purchased the Coca-Cola recipe for $238.98 from chemist John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta, Georgia. Candler founded The Coca-C ...

, businessman, owner of

* Asa G. Candler Jr., son of Asa Candler Sr., former owner of the cemetery and builder of the Westview Cemetery Abbey and Chapel. *

Herman Cain Herman Cain (December 13, 1945July 30, 2020) was an American businessman and Tea Party movement activist within the Republican Party. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Cain grew up in Georgia and graduated from Morehouse College with a bachelor's d ...

, politician. * John S. Cohen,

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from Georgia *

Laurent DeGive Laurent DeGive (January 1828 in Belgium – March 17, 1910 in Rockledge, FL) was the Belgian consul in Atlanta, Georgia in the late 19th century. He arrived in Atlanta in 1859. He built two opera houses in Atlanta, DeGive's Opera House (Bijou Thea ...

, Belgian diplomat and entrepreneur who built

Loew's Grand Theatre Loew's Grand Theater, originally DeGive's Grand Opera House, was a movie theater at the corner of Peachtree and Forsyth Streets in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States. It was most famous as the site of the 1939 premiere of ''Gone wit ...

* Willis F. Denny, architect of

Rhodes Hall Rhodes Memorial Hall, commonly known as Rhodes Hall, is an historic house located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was built as the home of furniture magnate Amos Giles Rhodes, proprietor of Atlanta-based Rhodes Furniture. The Romanes ...

and St. Mark United Methodist Church * Dolla, rapper *

John Owen Donaldson Captain John Owen Donaldson (May 14, 1897 – September 7, 1930) was a World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories. Early life Donaldson was born in Fort Yates, North Dakota, the son of General Thomas Quinton Donaldson. He left ...

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, for whom

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was named. *

Hugh M. Dorsey Hugh Manson Dorsey (July 10, 1871 – June 11, 1948) was an American lawyer who was notable as the prosecuting attorney in the Leo Frank prosecution of 1913, that subsequently led to a lynching after Frank's death sentence was reduced to life ...

Governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legisl ...

from 1917 to 1921. *

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, architect of

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and the

Imperial Hotel Imperial Hotel or Hotel Imperial may refer to: Hotels Australia * Imperial Hotel, Ravenswood, Queensland * Imperial Hotel, York, Western Australia Austria * Hotel Imperial, Vienna India * The Imperial, New Delhi Ireland * Imperial Hotel, D ...

* Walter T. Downing, architect of Healey Building and Westview's 1890 gatehouse * Henrietta Stanley Dull, newspaper columnist and cookbook author * John J. Eagan (ACIPCO), industrialist * James Douglas Edgar, golfer, winner of the Canadian Open *

Marion Fairbanks Madeline (Madeleine) (November 15, 1900 – January 15, 1989) and her twin sister Marion Fairbanks (November 15, 1900 – September 20, 1973) were American stage and motion picture actresses active in the silent era. The two sisters were seemin ...

, stage and silent screen actress *

Vernon Forrest Vernon Forrest (February 12, 1971 – July 25, 2009) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2008. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the WBC, IBF, ''Ring'' magazine and lineal welterweig ...

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who was a four-time, two-weight world champion * Y. Frank Freeman, executive for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, winner of two

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Frank Gordy Walter Frank Gordy (born 9 February 1904, Thomaston, Upson County, Georgia, USA; died 18 June 1983) was the founder of The Varsity chain of restaurants, which includes the world's largest drive-in restaurant on North Avenue near Georgia Tech i ...

, founder of The Varsity * Henry W. Grady,

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and

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, namesake of

Grady Memorial Hospital Grady Memorial Hospital, frequently referred to as Grady Hospital or simply Grady, is the public hospital for the city of Atlanta. It is the tenth-largest public hospital in the United States, and one of the busiest Level I trauma centers in th ...

and Henry W. Grady High School * L.P. Grant, for whom Grant Park is named, was on the original board of Westview * Samuel Green, a

Grand Wizard The Grand Wizard (later the Grand and Imperial Wizard simplified as the Imperial Wizard and eventually, the National Director) referred to the national leader of several different Ku Klux Klan organizations in the United States and abroad. The ti ...

of the

Knights of the Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Catho ...

in the late 1940s * John R. Gunn, minister, columnist and author *

Lyman Hall Lyman Hall (April 12, 1724 – October 19, 1790) was an American Founding Father, physician, clergyman, and statesman who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Georgia. Hall County is named after him. He ...

, president of

Georgia School of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

from 1896 to 1905 *

Gladys Hanson Gladys Hanson (born Gladys Hanson Snook; September 5, 1884 – February 23, 1973) was a stage and silent film actress. Early years Hanson was born Gladys Hanson Snook, the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peyton Harrison Snook. Career Han ...

, stage and screen actress *

Joel Chandler Harris Joel Chandler Harris (December 9, 1848 – July 3, 1908) was an American journalist, fiction writer, and folklorist best known for his collection of Uncle Remus stories. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, where he served as an apprentice on a planta ...

, newspaperman and author of "

Uncle Remus Uncle Remus is the fictional title character and narrator of a collection of African American folktales compiled and adapted by Joel Chandler Harris and published in book form in 1881. Harris was a journalist in post-Reconstruction era Atlanta, a ...

" * William Berry Hartsfield,

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Atlanta 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 498,715 ...

(1937-1941 and 1942-1962) and namesake of the Atlanta Airport * Ernest Hartsock, poet associated with

Oglethorpe University Oglethorpe University is a private college in Brookhaven, Georgia. It was chartered in 1835 and named in honor of General James Edward Oglethorpe, founder of the Colony of Georgia. History Oglethorpe University was chartered in 1834 in Mid ...

* J. J. Haverty, of furniture retailer

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and the Rhodes-Haverty Building *

Alice Hawthorne Septimus Winner (May 11, 1827 – November 22, 1905) was an American songwriter of the 19th century. He used his own name, and also the pseudonyms Alice Hawthorne, Percy Guyer, Mark Mason, Apsley Street, and Paul Stenton. He was also a teacher ...

, victim of the 1996

Centennial Olympic Park bombing The Centennial Olympic Park bombing was a domestic terrorist pipe bombing attack on Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, on July 27, 1996, during the 1996 Summer Olympics, Summer Olympics. The blast directly killed ...

* Daniel Whitehead Hicky, poet and columnist * Donald L. Hollowell,

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 of ...

attorneyWestview Cemetery History
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Evan Howell Evan Park Howell (December 10, 1839August 6, 1905) was an American politician and early telegraph operator, as well as an officer in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Early years and education Evan Howell was born to Effie Howe ...

, politician, early

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

operator,

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

officer *

Sister Mary Melanie Holliday Sister Mary Melanie Holliday (born Martha Ann "Mattie" Holliday; December 14, 1850 - April 19, 1939) was an American Catholic nun. As a member of the Sisters of Mercy, she served as Mother Superior at the Convent and Academy of St. Vincent de P ...

, Catholic nun *

Vivian Malone Jones Vivian Juanita Malone Jones (July 15, 1942 – October 13, 2005) was one of the first two black students to enroll at the University of Alabama in 1963, and in 1965 became the university's first black graduate. She was made famous when George Wa ...

, civil rights activist * James C. "Chris" Kelly, half of the rap duo

Kris Kross Kris Kross was an American hip hop duo that consisted of Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly and Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith. Kris Kross was the youngest hip-hop duo to gain success, with gold and platinum albums at 12 and 13 years old. The duo was discover ...

* James L. Key, mayor of Atlanta 1919–1923 and 1931–1937 * George Edward King, hardware store founder King Memorial Monument

Enrico Leide Enrico Leide (May 24, 1887 – July 18, 1970) was a concert cellist and orchestra conductor, conducting the first Atlanta Symphony Orchestra from 1920 to 1930. He was also music director of the palatial Paramount Theater (Atlanta), Paramount T ...

, cellist, first conductor of the

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The ASO's main concert venue is Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center. History Though earlier organizations bearing the same name date b ...

(1920-1930) *

Helen Dortch Longstreet Helen Dortch Longstreet (, Dortch; April 20, 1863 – May 3, 1962), known as the "Fighting Lady", was an American social advocate, librarian, and newspaper woman serving as reporter, editor, publisher, and business manager. She was the first woman ...

, journalist, first woman to run for office in Georgia * Evelyn G. Lowery, civil rights activist *

Joseph Lowery Joseph Echols Lowery (October 6, 1921 – March 27, 2020) was an American minister in the United Methodist Church and leader in the civil rights movement. He founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Martin Luther King Jr. and ot ...

, 3rd president of the

Southern Christian Leadership Conference The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., who had a large role in the American civi ...

* Ralph Emerson McGill,

and civil rights leader *

Livingston Mims Livingston Mims (1833March 4, 1906) was an American politician who served as the 37th Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia during the early 20th century. Biography Born in Edgefield, South Carolina, Mims later moved to Mississippi and represented Hinds Co ...

, mayor of Atlanta from 1901 to 1903 * Jim Mitchell,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

, coach for

Morehouse College , mottoeng = And there was light (literal translation of Latin itself translated from Hebrew: "And light was made") , type = Private historically black men's liberal arts college , academic_affiliations ...

and

Morris Brown College Morris Brown College (MBC) is a private Methodist historically black liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded January 5, 1881, Morris Brown is the first educational institution in Georgia to be owned and operated entirely by African Ame ...

Arthur James Moore Arthur James Moore (December 26, 1888 – June 30, 1974) was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MECS), the Methodist Church, and the United Methodist Church, elected in 1930. Birth and family Arthur was born December ...

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of the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

Cleland Kinloch Nelson Cleland Kinloch Nelson (May 23, 1852 - February 12, 1917) was the Third Bishop of the U.S. state of Georgia and the first bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta. Nelson was the 160th bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of Am ...

, Episcopal bishop * Frances Newman, novelist *

Bill Paschal William Avner Paschal Jr. (May 28, 1921 – May 25, 2003) was an American football running back in the National Football League for the New York Giants and the Boston Yanks. Early life Paschal was born in Atlanta, Georgia and attended Tech ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

for

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

and the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

* William H. Peck, poet and author * Edward C. Peters, real estate developer, owner of Edward C. Peters House * G. Lloyd Preacher, architect of

Atlanta City Hall Atlanta City Hall is the headquarters of the City of Atlanta government. It was constructed in 1930, and is located in Downtown Atlanta. It is a high-rise office tower very similar to dozens of other city halls built in the United States durin ...

Briarcliff Hotel The Briarcliff Hotel, now the Briarcliff Summit, is located at 1050 Ponce de Leon Ave. NE (original address: 750 Ponce de Leon Ave.) in the Virginia Highland neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. Asa G. Candler, Jr., the eccentric son of Coca-Col ...

and Medical Arts Building *

Isaac Newton Ragsdale Isaac Newton Ragsdale (1859–1937) came to Atlanta in 1880 from Dallas, Georgia. He lived for many years in Oakland City (Atlanta), Oakland City and served as mayor there in 1908 before it was annexed into Atlanta. He was in the livestock bu ...

, mayor of Atlanta from 1927 to 1931 Westviewcemetery

* Amos G. Rhodes, of Rhodes Furniture, the Rhodes-Haverty Building and

* Walter H. Rich and Richard H. "Dick" Rich, two presidents of the Rich's department store chain * Harry Van Buren Richardson, theologian, writer, and the first president of the

Interdenominational Theological Center The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) is a consortium of five predominantly African-American denominational Christian seminaries in Atlanta, Georgia, operating together as a professional graduate school of theology. It is the largest f ...

Frank Mason Robinson Frank Mason Robinson (September 12, 1845 – July 8, 1923) was an important early marketer and advertiser of what became known as Coca-Cola. Career During the winter of 1885, Robinson and his business partner, David Doe, came to the South i ...

, creator of the name and logo of

* Nick Rogers,

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

who played for

and in the NFL * William Lindsay Scruggs, author, lawyer and diplomat * Robert Shaw, conductor of the

* Jerry Randolph Smith, co-pilot on 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 in 1970 * Rankin M. Smith Sr., businessman, philanthropist & owner of

Frank Lebby Stanton Frank Lebby Stanton (February 22, 1857 – January 7, 1927), frequently credited as Frank L. Stanton, Frank Stanton or F. L. Stanton, was an American lyricist. He was also the initial columnist for the ''Atlanta Constitution'' and became the ...

, first poet laureate of Georgia, lyricist of "

Just Awearyin' for You "Just Awearyin' for You" is a parlor song, one of that genre's all-time hits. The lyrics were written by Frank Lebby Stanton and published in his ''Songs of the Soil'' (1894). The tune was composed by Carrie Jacobs-Bond and published as part ...

" *

Louise Suggs Mae Louise Suggs (September 7, 1923 – August 7, 2015) was an American professional golfer, one of the founders of the LPGA Tour and thus modern ladies' golf. Amateur career Born in Atlanta, Suggs had a very successful amateur career, beginning ...

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, one of the founders of the

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* Isaac T. Tichenor, president of Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama 1872-1881 *

Dorothy Rogers Tilly Dorothy Eugenia Rogers Tilly (June 30, 1883 – March 16, 1970) was an American civil rights activist from the progressive era until her death. She was a noted activist in the Women's Missionary Society (WMS), Commission on Interracial Cooperatio ...

, civil rights activist *

Charles Davis Tillman Charles Davis Tillman (March 20, 1861, Tallassee, Alabama – September 2, 1943, Atlanta, Georgia) —also known as Charlie D. Tillman, Charles Tillman, Charlie Tillman, and C. D. Tillman—was a popularizer of the gospel song. He had a knack ...

, early influence on

southern gospel Southern gospel music is a genre of Christian music. Its name comes from its origins in the southeastern United States. Its lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as ...

music *

Henry Holcombe Tucker Henry Holcombe Tucker (May 10, 1819 – September 9, 1889) was the chancellor of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia from 1874 until his resignation in 1878. Note that the head of the University was referred to as chancellor instead ...

, chancellor of the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

and president of

Mercer University Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,000 ...

* Nedra Tyre, author (ashes spread on her mother's grave) *

C. T. Vivian Cordy Tindell Vivian (July 30, 1924July 17, 2020) was an American minister, author, and close friend and lieutenant of Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement. Vivian resided in Atlanta, Georgia, and founded the C. T. Vivian Lead ...

, civil rights leader * Horace Taliaferro Ward, first

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 ...

to serve as a

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* B. Frank Whelchel, a

from Georgia * Robert Woodruff, businessman, President of

Anna Irwin Young Anna Irwin Young (1873–1920) was an American professor of mathematics, physics and astronomy and in 1916 was a charter member of the Mathematical Association of America. Biography Young was born in what is now Chicago Heights, Illinois on ...

, a charter member of the American Mathematical Association (in 1916).

Former interments

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 ...

President

Edmund Asa Ware Edmund Asa Ware (December 22, 1837 – September 25, 1885) was an American educator and the first president of Atlanta University, serving from 1869 to 1885. Biography Ware, son of Asa B. and Catharine (Slocum) Ware, was born December 22, 1 ...

was buried in a plot that straddled the then- segregated white and

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

sections of the cemetery in 1885. His body was moved to a memorial on the A.U. campus nine years later. Atlanta mayor Ivan Allen Jr. was buried at Westview when he died in 2003, but he was reinterred at Oakland Cemetery in 2009.

Location

The cemetery is located at 1680 Westview Drive SW,

Atlanta, GA Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...

30310. Its telephone number is (404) 755-6611. The office is open Monday-Friday 9-5 and Saturday 9:30-2 and is closed on Sunday. Gates are open from 8 am until 5:30 pm every day except Christmas and Thanksgiving. The site is a fifteen-minute walk from the

West Lake West Lake (; ) is a freshwater lake in Hangzhou, China. It is divided into five sections by three causeways. There are numerous temples, pagodas, gardens, and natural/artificial islands within the lake. Gushan (孤山) is the largest natural ...

MARTA station.

References

Notes

Sources

* *

External links

{{commons category
Westview Cemetery web siteWestview Cemetery
at

Find A Grave Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry.com. Its stated mission is "to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present fin ...

History of Atlanta Cemeteries in Atlanta National Register of Historic Places in Fulton County, Georgia Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state) 1884 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)

History

McBurney era (1884–1930)

Adair leadership (1930–1933)

Candler era (1930–1952)

West View becomes Westview

Bowen era (1952–present)

Structures

Notable interments

Former interments

Location

See also

References

Notes

Sources

External links