DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. The city of Waco established Greenwood Cemetery in 1875 — and right from the start, something worth noting: equal acreage was allocated for the White and Black communities. Equal.
In 1875. You let that sit for a moment out here on the Texas road. In the decades that followed, the ground filled up with church leaders, Masonic leaders, political leaders, and people from just about every walk of life you can name.
Then, in the 1930s, Mrs. Emma Norwood and others stepped up and began the care now given this part of the grounds by the People's Cemetery Association. Somebody had to tend to a place like that, and they did.
Now, Greenwood holds a lot of stories beneath its shade, but the marker calls one man the most famous among them all — and when you hear his name, you'll understand why. Jules Bledsoe. Born in Waco in 1899.
The marker calls him the great American baritone, and it does not reach for that word carelessly. Bledsoe studied abroad. He starred in grand opera.
And then came the moment the whole world remembers, whether they know his name or not. He stood on that stage in the original cast of Showboat — a popular drama, the marker says, which is a little like calling the Rio Grande a creek — and he sang 'Old Man River.' That performance gave a classic to the world. Jules Bledsoe, native of Waco, Texas.
Gone in 1943. But that voice? That song?
Old Man River just keeps rollin' along.
What the marker says
The city of Waco established Greenwood Cemetery in 1875, with equal acreage allocated for the White and Black communities. In the 1930s, Mrs. Emma Norwood and others began the the care now given this part of by People's Cemetery Association. Church, Masonic, and political leaders lie here beside people from many walks of life. The most famous is the great American baritone Jules Bledsoe (1899-1943), a native of Waco. Bledsoe studied abroad, starred in grand opera, and gave a classic to the world when he sang "Old Man River" in the original cast of "Showboat", a popular drama. (1976)