The Rebirth Of A Cemetery

Photo by Olivia Flores Alvarez

Olivewood Cemetery, established just after the end of the Civil War, is home to Houston's first freemen. Among the buried are a 100-plus-year-old woman who came to America on a slave ship in the late 1770's but lived long enough to see the end of slavery, the man who started a music program for black public schools, and a reverend who was shot to death by a man the newspaper reports referred to as "above average intelligence for his race."

But Olivewood has been sinking into the bayou for decades now, and most of the cemetery is inaccessible because of the overgrowth. Some folks are trying to do something about that. They headed out there recently to do some clean-up, and here's a slideshow on it.

Tomorrow, the cemetery will be dedicated as a historical site, with Mayor Bill White and US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee expected to be on hand (now that the grunt work of cleaning itup is done).