News 8
Whites-only cemetery saved by black neighborhood 
07:31 PM CDT on Saturday, June 27, 2009
>SOUTH DALLAS – Under a canopy of Oak trees and signing cicadas are the remnants of an early Dallas cemetery which has become largely forgotten.
Beer bottles and broken headstones litter this partially overgrown property which has stagnated in decades of neglect.
"This is terrible,” said Willie Coleman, south Dallas resident. “In a city like Dallas [which is] so fine and prime and you throw away a history like this? This is history. There's a lot of history in this ground."
Few things in South Dallas pre-date the Lagow Cemetery behind the old school building at the corner of 2nd Avenue and Carpenter.
Burials began here in the late 1800s and ended during the Roaring ‘20s.
In all, 33 tombstones have been mapped.
But researchers have discovered 62 others in unmarked plots on the two-acre cemetery making this the final resting place for almost 100 early Dallas residents, including a number of children.
"We don't know what all they did but they laid the foundation for us," Frances James, historical researcher said.
But over the decades, as loved ones died off or moved away, neglect set in at the Lagow Cemetery.
The Texas State Historical Commission considers the Lagow Cemetery a lucky find.
Often, experts said, old cemeteries either deteriorate or get destroyed by development.
But what's more remarkable is this was a “whites-only” graveyard and is now targeted for clean-up and restoration in what has become a black neighborhood.
"We care,” Mrs. Coleman, who is black, said. “Regardless what color you are, we care.”
She’s a long-time resident and organized the clean-up.
Saturday, 50 volunteers from the Dallas Leadership Foundation will join her.
"Being able to help families to get in touch with their history is important and being able to improve the overall aesthetic view of the neighborhood is important," said Stephanie Howard, Dallas Leadership Foundation.
For existing residents, preservation is a priority even if the history isn't their own.
E-mail jwhitely@wfaa.com.
