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NOTABLE WASHINGTON PARK ANCESTRY

100th Anniversary

Restoration Project

Washington Park Cemetery, an historic African American cemetery located in Berkeley, Missouri, is in its 100th year! It is located in the city’s southern precinct and near the corner of Natural Bridge Road and James S. McDonnell Blvd. and due east of Lambert International Airport. Many news programs have reported that nearly 30 acres of the approximately 42-acre historic cemetery are in a wretched state of neglect and disrepair.

We have begun a mission to heal this community trauma and return this beautiful cultural heritage site back to a landmark St. Louis will be proud of.

The cemetery, which is highly visible from cars on Highway 70 and airplanes landing at Lambert Airport, is the final resting place for over 42,000 people, and for many years was one of few cemeteries where the black community could bury their deceased. Revered ministers, respected educators and attorneys, noted civil rights leaders and physicians, and beloved family members are not the only ones buried at the cemetery.

Immediate Need

To offer your support or

in-kind assistance

Or to be involved in this historic effort made for future generations, please contact us.

ADDITIONAL WAYS TO CONTACT US >

Washington Park Cemetery is the final resting place for many U.S. servicemen who chose to be buried by family members and near the homes of their survivors as opposed to the rather far away Jefferson Barracks Cemetery. Veterans buried at the cemetery have served in the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. With military stones found destroyed throughout the cemetery - that once represented their devoted service in five U.S. wars - survivors are lamenting their veterans’ decisions to be buried at the deteriorating Washington Park Cemetery which has no perpetual care funds left.

This is a multi-year effort to restore this sacred grounds and ancestral repository for these former St. Louisans, their families and descendants to come!

How?

Before the cemetery can become a north county heritage site, a crew is needed to maintain the cemetery’s cleared 25 acres.

What else?

tHEN WHAT?

Washington Park Cemetery holds Heritage, Culture and Ancestry. Our goal is to not only respect and connect with our past, but to learn how to move forward into the future with transferable, living wage skills and a greater understanding of our local heritage. Youth and young adults working at the site are gaining practical, hands-on experience with Preservation, Landscaping and Ground Maintenance, Tree and Road Services, Geospatial Intelligence, Project Management, Civil Engineering and Ancestry and Data Tracking. With these skills we are becoming more familiar with protecting our heritage and mapping genealogical trees and historical research to trace the known - and unknown - aspects of our lineages. As our youth begin to identify and reconnect with this ancestral guidance and support they are gaining a deeper sense of belonging.

Reconnecting with ancestry is a powerful tool that has been used by many communities, including Native Americans and survivors of the Holocaust and other genocidal tactics. Shamanic cultures have long understood that honoring ancestors is a major key to health and happiness. When we heal from trauma in our hearts and souls, we can change genetic patterns that would otherwise affect future generations.

WHY?

In order for St. Louis to move forward we must heal from our past. In the currently shifting political climate, these wounds that have always existed but remained marginalized, have resurfaced inviting the opportunity for examination, reparations, amends and healing.

The effects of the historical trauma inflicted on communities because of their race, creed, and ethnicity linger on the souls of their descendants. As a result, many people in these same communities experience higher rates of mental and physical illness, substance abuse, and erosion in families and community structures. The persistent cycle of trauma destroys family and communities and threatens the vibrancy of entire cultures. But historical trauma is not just about what happened in the past. It's about what's still happening.

So many are living in a world where they are unsure where they belong or feel disconnected. Reminding them of the proximity of their origins and the gifts that were inherited from their ancestors is a powerful healing technique. It can alleviate some of the internal conflict or resentments we carry each day. These gifts, along with medicines, foods, plants and sacrifices are connected by bloodline, are birthrights and are a part of our ancestral lineage. Connecting with ancestry can provide guidance and support in our everyday lives and propel the mission to stop these traumas once and for all.