Lincoln Memorial Park

Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery is a historic African-American cemetery in the Brownsville neighborhood of Miami, Florida.

Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery
Entrance to the L.M.P. Cemetery
Details
Established1924
Location
3001 NW 46th St, Miami, FL 33142
CountryUSA
StyleAbove ground vaults
Owned byJessica Williams (current)
Size20 acres
No. of graves538 plots

History

Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery was first used as a graveyard in 1924 on land owned by a F.B. Miller (a white realtor). In 1929 the burial ground was purchased by Kelsey Pharr, who was a black funeral director. Mr. Pharr was a native of South Carolina, who had studied embalming in Boston and had moved to Miami in the early 1900s. He was a philanthropist and served as consul to Liberia.[1] After his death in 1964, the cemetery passed on to his goddaughter Elyn Johson, and then to Jessica Williams, the latter's niece.[2] In 2017, Williams partnered with the Coral Gables Museum in an ongoing restorative effort.[3]

The layout of the cemetery is of the above the ground burial style which is very popular in locations at or below sea level and are prone to flooding, just like Evergreen Memorial Park a few blocks away and the Charlotte Jane Memorial Park Cemetery in Coconut Grove.[4][5]

Some of Miami's most noted African-Americans[6] are buried in Lincoln Memorial Park:

  • Kelsey Phar, first owner of the cemetery; (died 1964)
  • H.E.S. Reeves, founder of the Miami Times, the county’s oldest Black-owned newspaper; (died 1970)
  • Gwen Cherry, the first African-American woman to serve as a state legislator in Florida; (died 1979)[7]
  • Dana A. Dorsey, Miami’s first Black millionaire; (died 1940)
  • Rev. John Culmer, rector of the Historical St. Agnes Episcopal Church in Overtown; (died 1963)
  • Dana Dorsey Mausoleum
  • Military graves of African-Americans
  • General view of graves
  • American flag flying next to caskets
  • Entrance gate and main road
  • Entrance
  • North wall (north)
  • View west road
  • Caskets
  • Reeves Family grave
  • View of chapel from rear wall of cemetery
  • View of concrete vaults

References[3]
  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=J7ztAAAAMAAJ&q=evergreen+memorial+cemetery+miami&dq=evergreen+memorial+cemetery+miami&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiz4-Hk87XrAhU7TTABHcKoDMYQ6AEwBnoECAcQAQ
  2. "Endangered Historic landmarks are at risk". miamitimesonline. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  3. "Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery". Coral Gables Museum. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  4. "Miami's Most Historic African-American Cemetery Is Neglected and Forgotten". miaminewtimes.com. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  5. "film miami locations". miamidade.gov. Archived from the original on May 23, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  6. "Dr. William B. Sawyer of Colored Town" (PDF). digitalcollections.fiu.edu. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  7. "Gwendolyn Cherry". findagrave.com. Retrieved June 13, 2018.

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