The African American Experience in Louisiana

4. Cemeteries
Cemeteries are the final elements of our social and religious lives. Benevolent societies assured
that members had proper burials and sometimes even financed the construction of tombs, while
some of the other above mentioned organizations also contributed to the final rites of their
brethren. Cemeteries are sites of the cultural activities of funerals and visitation rituals; they are
landscapes of symbolic mortuary art and records of genealogical and historical information.
Although these are all obvious reasons that cemeteries should be treasured, they must be
evaluated for their value in more specific terms to be eligible for the National Register. Register
guidelines stipulate that a cemetery is only eligible for listing if “it derives its primary
significance ificance from graves of persons of transcendent importance, from age, from distinctive
design features, or from association with historic events.” There are many possible ways,
however, in which a cemetery could be eligible for the National Register under Criterion A in
association with this context. (See National Register Bulletin 41: Guidelines for Evaluating and
Registering Cemeteries and Burial Places for further guidance on this subject:
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/publications/bulletins/nrb41/). National Register Bulletin 41
notes that, “The evolution of burial customs and memorialization also can be an important
context for understanding our history.” 261
There are presently two Louisiana cemeteries listed on the National
Register for their association with the African-American experience
and one of those is archaeological. Star Cemetery in Shreveport
was nominated for its significance to the African-American history
of Shreveport (Figure 95). Established in 1883, it was Shreveport’s
first African-AmericanAmerican cemetery. Its date makes it
contemporaneous with the founding of many benevolent societies
as discussed above and the nomination notes that the symbols of
many different Masonic orders found throughout the cemetery
reflect the importance of these organizations in the African-
American community. Kenner and Kugler Cemeteries in St.
Charles Parish were nominated to the National Register as an
archaeological site under Criteria A and D for the potential to yield
information important to history not available from other sources.
The cemeteries are believed to have begun as slave cemeteries for
Roseland and Hermitage Plantations; however, the archaeological
findings could only identify use of the site
between 1895 and 1920, which is why the
site is mentioned here rather than in the
category of slave cemeteries.
Figure 95: Star Cemetery,
Shreveport, Caddo Parish.
Cemeteries can also be significant under
Criterion A as the last traces of a settlement
not otherwise represented by standing
Figure 96: Cemetery, Bobtown, Terrebonne Parish.
261 For sources that may aid in the interpretation of the history of burial and memorialization practices in African
American cemeteries, see Historic African American and African Caribbean Cemeteries: A Selected Bibliography
by Sharyn Thompson, http://www.flheritage.com/archaeology/cemeteries/documents/afamcem.pdf.
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