Four people have been charged in the digging up of more than 300 graves in a historic African-American cemetery as part of a scheme to resell burial plots. [CNN]
Photo from CNN: Dozens of graves at Burr Oak Cemetery were desecrated by workers as part of a financial scheme, authorities say.
It happened at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.
“When you look at some of the gravestones that we come across, Cook County, Illinois, Sheriff Tom Dart says the discovery was “beyond startling and revolting.”
Gravestones that have been dumped throughout the cemetery and had been hidden, you see gravestones of babies, you see gravestones of grandparents, wives, husbands,” he said. “This is heartbreaking stuff,” said Sheriff Tom Dart, shown in CNN photo.
Burr Oak Cemetery is where lynching victim Emmett Till, blues legend Dinah Washington and some Negro League baseball players are buried. The perpetrators allegedly dug up caskets, dumped the remains, resold the plots and pocketed the cash, Dart said.
Here is a list of notable persons buried in the cemetery:
Noble Drew Ali (1886-1929), prophet and founder of the Moorish Science Temple of America
James Kokomo Arnold (1901-1968), blues musician
Walter Barnes, bandleader who perished with 10 members of his band in the Rhythm Night Club Fire
Lexie Bigham (1968-1995), actor
Ezzard Charles (1921-1975), world heavyweight boxing champion
George “Sonny” Cohn (1925-2006), jazz trumpeter with Count Basie for 30 years
Jimmie Crutchfield (1910-1993), All-Star Negro League baseball player
Willie Dixon (1915-1992), blues musician and songwriter
John Donaldson (1892-1970), star pre-Negro League baseball pitcher and barnstormer businessman
Jodie Edwards (1895-1967), of comedy duo Butterbeans and Susie
Inman Jackson (1907-1973), player with the Harlem Globetrotters
Otis Spann (1930-1970), blues pianist
James A. “Candy Jim” Taylor (1884-1948), Negro League baseball player and manager
Emmett Till (1941-1955), murder victim whose death helped galvanize the U.S. Civil Rights Movement
Dinah Washington (1924-1963), “Queen of the Blues”
J. Mayo Williams (1894-1980) Early blues and jazz record producer and one of the first black players in the NFLWhat a sorry tale. The families of in graves that were dug up must be distraught. So will thousands of genealogists be outraged.
Update: July 15, 2009. Sheriff Dart looks for someone to run the cemetery.
The condition of records at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip illustrates the daunting task ahead of identifying the dead whose graves have been disturbed. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said Tuesday that he’d received about 65,000 requests from families seeking information about loved ones buried there. [Associated Press]
“There is nobody running the cemetery right now other than me,” Dart said. “That obviously is not what should be going on here.”
Arizona-based owner, Perpetua Holdings, has made no move to reopen or operate the cemetery.
Next to Dart at the news conference stood a rusty gray file cabinet that the sheriff said had been discovered in a basement. Inside were rotting, moldy cards with fading writing.
Dart’s comments come as authorities are continuing the monumental task of trying to identify who is buried in about 100,000 graves in the suburban cemetery. The sheriff said most of the graves don’t have markers.
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About Featheriver
Born and raised in Oklahoma. Improved in California. Out to pasture in Nevada.
Born in 1933, Korean War Vet in USAF. Occupation: Criminal Law and Torts. Retired California Lawyer. Now live in Pahrump, Nye County, Nevada.
Who did this disgusting deed. Why didn’t the article mention their names? I am appalled!!!
From the article I read the identity of those responsible for this despicable act is not yet known and the investigation is just getting underway.