Elmwood Cemetery

Elmwood Cemetery and Mausoleum is a 412 acre cemetery established in the 1880s (as Elm Leaf Cemetery) in the West End neighborhood of Birmingham by a group of Fraternal organizations. It was renamed in 1906 and gradually eclipsed Oak Hill Cemetery as the most prominent burial place in the city.

The cemetery is roughly bounded by Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, Dennison Avenue Southwest, 14th Place Southwest, and railroad tracks. The main entrance is directly across from 6th Avenue Southwest.

The Lackey family constructed a funeral chapel for Johns-Ridouts Mortuary adjoining the cemetery at 800 Dennison Avenue Southwest in 1962.

The cemetery was integrated in 1970 after the family of Vietnam veteran Bill Terry, Jr won a federal lawsuit barring the owners from discriminating based on race. There are currently over 126,000 individuals interred at Elmwood.

Notable burials

• Henry Aizenman, (1931-2008) - Holocaust survivor
• Truman H. Aldrich (1848-1932) - U. S. Representative 1896-1897
• William Wirt Allen (1835-1894) - Confederate Major General
• Mary Anderson (1866-1953) - inventor of the windshield wiper
• Charley Boswell (1916-1995) - Blind golfer and insurance executive
• Sydney J. Bowie (1865-1928) - U. S. Representative 1901-1907
• Bear Bryant (1913-1983) - University of Alabama football coach
• Ben Chapman (1908-1993) - baseball player
• B. B. Comer - (1848-1927) - Governor of Alabama 1907-1911, U. S. Senator 1920
• James Coyle (1873-1921) - Catholic priest
• Russell Cunningham (1855-1921) - Governor of Alabama 1904-1905
• Piper Davis (1917-1989) - baseball player
• William Henry Denson (1846-1906) - U. S. Representative 1893-1895
• Joe Domnanovich (1919-2009) - football player
• Red Erwin (1921-2002) - Medal of Honor recipient
• Sam Hairston (1920-1997) - baseball player
• Art Hanes (1916-1997) - Mayor of Birmingham 1961-1963
• Lum Harris (1915-1996) baseball manager
• George Huddleston, Sr (1869-1960) - U. S. Representative 1915-1937
• George Huddleston, Jr (1920-1971) - U. S. Representative 1955-1965
• Patti Ruffner Jacobs (1875-1935) - social reformer
• Caroline Johnson (1868-1957) - wife of Crawford Johnson, civic activist
• Joseph Johnston (1843-1913) - Governor of Alabama 1896-1900, U. S. Senator 1907-1913
• A. C. Keily (1908-2004) - photographer
• Eddie Kendricks (1939-1992) - singer, co-founder of The Temptations
• John W. Kirklin (1917-2004) - pioneer heart surgeon
• Dee Miles (1909-1976) - baseball player
• John P. Newsome (1893-1961) - U. S. Representative 1943-1945
• Luther Patrick (1894-1957) - U. S. Representative 1937-1943
• Rufus Rhodes (1856-1910) - founder of the Birmingham News
• Bo Russell (1916-1997) - baseball player
• Fred Sington (1910-1998) - football player
• Jesse Stallings (1856-1928) - U. S. Representative 1893-1901
• Sun Ra (1914-1993) - Jazz musician
• Bill Terry, Jr (1949-1969) - Vietnam veteran
• Oscar Underwood (1862-1929) - U. S. Senator 1915-1927
• Frank S. White (1847-1922) - U. S. Senator 1914-1915
• Abraham Woods, Jr (1928-2008) - Minister, Civil Rights activist
• Clarence Yaryan (1892-1964) - baseball player

External links

• Elmwood Cemetery at Find-A-Grave
• Elmwood Cemetery at the Political Graveyard

References

"Elmwood Cemetery (Birmingham, Alabama)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 18 Apr 2009, 16:30 UTC. 25 May 2009 [1].

• Stock, Erin (May 24, 2009) "Soldier whose death led to Elmwood Cemetery integration is honored." Birmingham News