Father Dickson Cemetery is a historic African-American cemetery located on 845 South Sappington Road in
Crestwood, St. Louis County, Missouri.
It has been listed as one of the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
since October 6, 2021.
History
The cemetery is named after abolitionist
Moses Dickson
Moses Dickson (1824–1901) was an abolitionist, soldier, minister, and founder of the Knights of Liberty, an anti-slavery organization that planned a Slave rebellion, slave uprising in the United States and helped Slavery in the United States, ...
, who is buried at this cemetery.
It sits on more than 12 acres and roughly 12,000 people are buried there.
Many of the burials include black military veterans, leaders within the
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...
network, formerly enslaved people, and lynching victims.
In 1988, the Friends of Father Dickson Cemetery group was started in hopes of maintaining the aging cemetery and preserving history.
Other nearby historic African American cemeteries include
Washington Park Cemetery
Washington Park Cemetery is a historic African-American cemetery active from 1920 until 1980 and located in Berkeley, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Large-scale disinterment occurred over several decades for various construction proje ...
(1920),
Quinette Cemetery (1866), and
Greenwood Cemetery (1874).
Notable burials
*
Moses Dickson
Moses Dickson (1824–1901) was an abolitionist, soldier, minister, and founder of the Knights of Liberty, an anti-slavery organization that planned a Slave rebellion, slave uprising in the United States and helped Slavery in the United States, ...
(1824–1901), his body was moved here in 1903 with the dedication of the cemetery.
* Henry Q. "Steamboat" Lewis (1886–1965)
*
Pinetop Sparks
Aaron "Pinetop" Sparks (born Aaron Gant, May 22, 1910 – November 5, 1935) was an American blues pianist active in St. Louis in the early 1930s. He died in his twenties from either poisoning or exhaustion.
Career
Aaron and his twin brother, Mar ...
(1910–1935), he was buried in an unmarked grave, a headstone was added in 2014.
*
James Milton Turner
James Milton Turner (c. 1840 – November 1, 1915) was an American political leader, activist, educator, and diplomat during the Reconstruction era. Appointed consul general to Liberia in 1871, he was the first African-American to serve in the U ...
(1840–1915)
See also
*
List of cemeteries in Missouri
*
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1903 establishments in Missouri
Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri
History of St. Louis County, Missouri
African-American history in St. Louis
African-American cemeteries in Missouri
Cemeteries established in the 1900s