A Place for Memory: Baltimore's Historic Laurel Cemetery

Laurel Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, was established in 1852 as a nondenominational cemetery for African Americans but faced neglect and demolition in the 1950s. Despite opposition, the cemetery was demolished and replaced with a shopping center. Archival research has documented over 18,000 original burials, many of which remain beneath the shopping center. The Laurel Cemetery Memorial Project was formed to research and commemorate the site and the people buried there.

Format: Hardback
Length: 220 pages
Publication date: 01 March 2023
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Laurel Cemetery, founded in 1852 as a nondenominational burial ground for African Americans in Baltimore, Maryland, became the final resting place for countless individuals and prominent members of the community, including religious leaders, educators, political organizers, and civil rights activists. Over the years, the privately owned cemetery underwent multiple ownership changes and fell into disrepair due to inadequate maintenance and neglect. In the 1950s, legislation was passed allowing for the demolition and sale of the property for commercial development. Despite opposition and legal challenges, the cemetery was demolished in 1958 to make way for a shopping center. Prior to the demolition, a small number of gravestones and a limited number of burials (fewer than 200) were exhumed and relocated to a new site in Carroll County. Ongoing archival research has revealed over 18,000 original burials, with many still interred beneath the Belair-Edison Crossing shopping center property. This book aims to highlight and historicize the underappreciated and forgotten individuals and events associated with the cemetery, emphasizing their significant contributions to the social, economic, and political development of Baltimore's African American community. Additionally, it documents the unsuccessful efforts to prevent the cemetery's destruction and the recent grassroots formation of the Laurel Cemetery Memorial Project to research and commemorate the site and its inhabitants.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781538156131