DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at Rosewood Cemetery has to say — and it's a story worth slowing down for. On January 30, 1911, a group of African American Galvestonians did something that should not have been necessary, but was. They formed the Rosewood Cemetery Association.
You see, prior to that moment, African American citizens were prevented from interring their dead in most of the city's cemeteries. Most. Not some.
Most. So these citizens took matters into their own hands, and they did it with the kind of quiet, determined dignity that tends to outlast everything else. They went and purchased more than eight acres from the Joe Levy family — land near the beach, just west of where Seawall Boulevard ends.
And they built something from scratch. Individuals bought in. Churches bought in.
Organizations bought in — among them the Norris Wright Cuney Lodge No. 63 of the Colored Knights of Pythias. The association minutes tell us exactly what this cost: individual plots went for ten dollars each, with an additional two-dollar charge for grave digging. Plots for the burial of children cost six dollars and fifty cents.
Every penny accounted for. Every soul counted. The first interment at Rosewood was that of Robert Bailey — an infant, gone on February 1, 1912.
That's how a cemetery begins. Not with ceremony and ribbon-cuttings, but with grief, and the need for a dignified place to set it down. The cemetery served the community on into the 1940s, though most of the identified burials date from 1914 and 1915.
The last known burial was in June 1944, when a man named Frank Boyer was interred there. And then — well, then the land started working against the living and the dead alike. In 1951, the City of Galveston began acquiring undeveloped portions of the cemetery for the extension of the seawall west of 61st Street.
That construction blocked the natural outlet of Greens Bayou, and flooding moved into the cemetery. The marker says this may have contributed to a reduction in its use. May have.
You can decide what weight you give that. Beginning in the late 1950s, the land on which the cemetery sat was gradually sold to developers. Gradually — that word does a lot of heavy lifting.
By the 1990s, Rosewood had disappeared from many city maps. More than eight acres, reduced to an absence. But here's where the story turns, just a little.
In 2006, just over one acre of the original cemetery property was donated to the Galveston Historical Foundation — in an effort to preserve what was left of this important site. One acre out of eight. It isn't everything.
But it's something. It's a name on a map again. It's a marker standing where people once stood and said: our dead deserve a place, and we will make one.
Rosewood Cemetery. Remember it.
What the marker says
ROSEWOOD CEMETERY ON JANUARY 30, 1911, A GROUP OF AFRICAN AMERICAN GALVESTONIANS FORMED THE ROSEWOOD CEMETERY ASSOCIATION. THE CITIZENS PURCHASED MORE THAN EIGHT ACRES FROM THE JOE LEVY FAMILY NEAR THE BEACH, JUST WEST OF THE TERMINATION OF SEAWALL BOULEVARD. PRIOR TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ROSEWOOD CEMETERY, AFRICAN AMERICAN CITIZENS WERE PREVENTED FROM INTERRING THEIR DEAD IN MOST OF THE CITY'S CEMETERIES. INDIVIDUALS, CHURCHES, AND ORGANIZATIONS, SUCH AS THE NORRIS WRIGHT CUNEY LODGE NO. 63 OF THE COLORED KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS, PURCHASED SHARES IN THE ASSOCIATION. ASSOCIATION MINUTES INDICATE THAT INDIVIDUAL PLOTS WERE SOLD FOR $10 EACH, WITH AN ADDITIONAL $2 GRAVE DIGGING CHARGE; PLOTS FOR THE BURIAL OF CHILDREN COST $6.50. THE FIRST INTERMENT WAS THAT OF ROBERT BAILEY, AN INFANT WHO DIED ON FEBRUARY 1, 1912. THE CEMETERY WAS UTILIZED INTO THE 1940s, ALTHOUGH MOST OF THE IDENTIFIED BURIALS DATE FROM 1914 AND 1915. THE LAST KNOWN BURIAL OCCURRED IN JUNE 1944, WHEN FRANK BOYER WAS INTERRED. IN 1951, THE CITY OF GALVESTON BEGAN ACQUIRING UNDEVELOPED PORTIONS OF THE CEMETERY FOR THE EXTENSION OF THE SEAWALL WEST OF 61st STREET. THIS CONSTRUCTION BLOCKED THE NATURAL OUTLET OF GREENS BAYOU AND CREATED FLOODING IN THE CEMETERY AND MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO A REDUCTION IN ITS USE. BEGINNING IN THE LATE 1950s, THE LAND ON WHICH THE CEMETERY SAT WAS GRADUALLY SOLD TO DEVELOPERS, AND BY THE 1990s ROSEWOOD HAD DISAPPEARED FROM MANY CITY MAPS. IN 2006, JUST OVER ONE ACRE OF THE ORIGINAL CEMETERY PROPERTY WAS DONATED TO THE GALVESTON HISTORICAL FOUNDATION, IN AN EFFORT TO PRESERVE WHAT WAS LEFT OF THIS IMPORTANT SITE. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY - 2004