Media Contact Monica Rhodes
[email protected] (979) 285-8512 UPDATED - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New exhibit featuring Olivewood Cemetery debuts at National Museum of Funeral History “Honoring Olivewood” brings attention to Houston’s first and oldest African American cemetery and its restoration efforts through a collection of photographs by Kasey French Houston, Texas (December 10, 2015) – The National Museum of Funeral History is proud to present a new exhibit entitled Honoring Olivewood, featuring a collection of photographs by young Houstonian Kasey French, from January 31 – May 29, 2016. The photographs, taken by French in 2011 when she was only 16 years old, showcase the beauty and reverence of historic Olivewood Cemetery, Houston’s first and oldest incorporated African American cemetery, which pre-dates the end of slavery. The exhibit will be accompanied by a special “Honoring Olivewood” book featuring French’s photographs. The book will be available for sale in the Museum’s gift shop and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Descendants of Olivewood, a non- profit group organized by volunteers in 2003 to raise funds to restore, preserve and maintain the historic cemetery and sacred space after years of neglect. Olivewood Cemetery, located at 1300 Court Street, in a bend of White Oak Bayou just northwest of Downtown Houston where the First and Sixth Wards intersect, is the final resting place of some of Houston’s first African American citizens. Currently, the “Submerged Sky” by Kasey French, 2011 cemetery receives only the care of a small group of supporters and is in great need of additional care and restoration.