12-Discovering Glenwood Cemetery

Glenwood Cemetery, established in 1870 by the City of Huntsville, was created as a burial ground for African American citizens, where families purchased their own grave sites as in other city-owned cemeteries. The cemetery is located between Hall and Derrick Streets, bounded by Holmes Avenue West and Clinton Avenue, behind the former Stone Middle School in what is now the Midtown area. Following the Civil War and Reconstruction, formerly enslaved people in Huntsville sought a cemetery of their own rather than being buried in the slave cemetery known as Georgia, where the Huntsville Hospital garage now stands. Many African American leaders of the past—and some more recent—rest in these hallowed grounds. Come experience a virtual tour of this historic cemetery, created by presenter Penny Sumners and Ollye Conley, with scripts developed by Dorla Evans and narrated by local African Americans.