Category Archives: Black History

Black History, Cemeteries, Illinois

The Grave of Emmett Louis Till in Burr Oak Cemetery (Alsip, Illinois)

1 Comment

Emmett Louis Till (1941–1955) was a 14-year-old African American boy who was abducted and murdered in Mississippi after being accused of flirting with Carolyn Bryant, a white store owner’s wife. His lynching became a national story when his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral so the world could witness the brutal violence inflicted on her son.

For a more detailed account, Wikipedia provides a good summary.

He was buried in Burr Oak Cemetery on Chicago’s South Side. When a friend and I visited the cemetery the day after a rainstorm, the grounds were waterlogged and poorly drained. We were unable to approach his grave without wading through several inches of standing water. It is unfortunate that the cemetery contends with this issue, as my friend and I visited several other cemeteries that day, none of which had significant standing water.

-Georgia, Black History, National Register of Historic Places, Rosenwald Schools, Schools

Cross Roads Rosenwald School-Dixie, Georgia

1 Comment

The Cross Roads School is a Rosenwald school built just outside of Dixie, Georgia in Brooks County. It was built as a two-teacher plan school in 1927. The school was in use until 1959.

In 2025, the school was listed on the Georgia Trust’s Places in Peril. There is a commitment from the school’s alumni and the local community to restore the schoolhouse into a community center.

-Georgia, Black History, Cemeteries, Churches and Temples, Vernacular Headstones

Mountain Creek AME Church-Sumter County, Georgia

Leave a comment

Mountain Creek AME Church is located in Sunter County. The main church building was constructed in 1890. The fellowship hall was added in 1990.

This building was on the property. The abandoned piano makes me wonder if it was the old Sunday school. It could have been an old school. I don’t believe it is an old church because tar paper isn’t typically used on churches.

-Georgia, -South Carolina, Black History, Famous People, Houses

Jesse Jackson’s Childhood Home-Greenville, South Carolina

Leave a comment

Located on Haynie Street, Jesse Jackson grew up in this house in Greenville, South Carolina. Born on October 8, 1941, Jackson graduated from Sterling High School. Known as a leader in high school, Jackson became known as one of the members of the “Greenville 8,” eight men and women who entered the Greenville public libraries to desegregate them.

Jackson’s mother, Helen Burns Jackson, lived in Greenville until she died in 2015.

-Georgia, Black History, Theaters

Liberty Theater-Valdosta, Georgia

Leave a comment

Liberty Theater was the center of Black nightlife in Valdosta, Georgia. It used to be a theater and nightclub, but the nightclub was demolished in 2023 after it became too unstable. Built in the 1930s, it is a contributing property to the Southside Historic District.

-Georgia, Abandoned, Black History, Churches and Temples

Mother Easter Baptist Church – Moultrie, Georgia

Leave a comment

Mother Easter Baptist Church was founded in 1894 in Moultrie, Georgia, by Rev. James O. Kelley and several community leaders. The church was named in honor of “Mother Easter,” believed to be Easter Smith, a widow who allowed worship services to be held in her home before the church was built. After early growth and multiple relocations due to fires in 1903 and 1905, the congregation purchased this location in 1906.

Rev. Kelley served as the first pastor, followed by a succession of leaders who guided the church through rebuilding and expansion. Notable growth occurred under Rev. J.J. Strickland from 1942 to the late 1950s, when membership increased significantly and the church was remodeled with an added annex. In 1962, Rev. Emory Harrison Hopkins became the church’s first full-time pastor. The congregation moved into their current structure in 1985.