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. As of 2002, it was ranked the 12th largest cemetery in the nation. Originally, the cemetery was whites-only, but in 1970 the policy changed in order to bury Bill Terry, Jr , a soldier and Vietnam casualty.

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.

The first recorded burial was of Annie Cleveland, an eight month old little girl, in October 28, 1900.

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
• Henry Badham Jr (1892-1978), aviator, Air National Guard Brigadier General
• William Badham (1895-1991), aviator, Air Force Brigadier General
• Donald Beatty (1900–1980), aviator, explorer and inventor
• 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
• Charles Carraway (1878-1963), physician
• Ben Chapman (1908–1993), baseball player
• James Saxon Childers (1899–1965), novelist
• B. B. Comer - (1848–1927), Governor of Alabama 1907–1911, U.S. Senator 1920
• James Coyle (1873–1921), Catholic priest
• George Crawford (1869-1936), President of the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company 1907-30
• Russell Cunningham (1855–921), Governor of Alabama 1904–1905
• Piper Davis (1917–1989), baseball player
• William Henry Denson (1846–1906), U.S. Representative 1893–1895
• Thomas Dill (1825-1901), professor and dean at Howard College
• Joe Domnanovich (1919–2009), football player
• Red Erwin (1921–2002), Medal of Honor recipient
• John Forney (1927–1997), University of Alabama play-by-play radio announcer
• Sam Hairston (1920–1997), baseball player
• James Hall (1855-1936), Presbyterian minister and educator
• Art Hanes (1916–1997), Mayor of Birmingham 1961–1963
• Evelyn Starks Hardy (1923-2015), gospel star and music teacher
• 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
• Bem Price (1883–1936), architect
• Jim Pyburn (1932–2011), baseball player and football coach
• Erskine Ramsay (1864–1953), mining engineer, inventor and philanthropist
• Rufus Rhodes (1856–1910), founder of the Birmingham News
• Bo Russell (1916–1997), baseball player
• Ed Salem (1928–2001), football player and restaurateur
• Fred Sington (1910–1998), football player
• Sidney Smyer (1897-1985), president of the Birmingham Realty Company
• 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
• Gene Walker (1893–1924), motorcycle racer
• Newman Waters, Sr (1897-1973), theater executive and real estate developer
• James Weatherly (1856–1930) Birmingham City Commissioner 1911–1917
• Francis White (1847–1922), U.S. Senator 1914–1915
• Abraham Woods, Jr (1928–2008), minister, Civil Rights activist
• John Wright (1927-2015), communications director, actor and social 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." The Birmingham News
• "Elmwood Cemetery, Birmingham" in The Heritage of Jefferson County, Alabama. Clanton: Heritage Publishing Consultants. ISBN 1891647547, p. 138