New Exhibit Featuring Olivewood Cemetery Debuts at National

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. In the summer of 2011, French visited Olivewood Cemetery as part of a Catholic Youth Service camp. In keeping with the camp’s theme that year, “cherish and revere life,” the youth group visited several Houston popular volunteer spots, including the historic cemetery and the Houston Food Bank. So moved by the intense labor needed to clear overgrown tropical vegetation and trash from Olivewood, French picked the historic cemetery, which she calls “this Holy ground,” as her project. While most teens would have a finite end to volunteer projects, that wasn’t the case for French, who is now 21 years old and a public relations student at the University of Texas in Austin. For the past five years, French has continued to support Olivewood Cemetery, keeping in regular contact with the Descendants of Olivewood, including Margott Williams and Charles Cook, the co- presidents of the organization. Meeting Williams, Cook and their team of dedicated volunteers greatly inspired French. She adopted their drive and passion and provided her own solution to illuminating the neglect of the cemetery. Kasey French It was only natural for French to combine her hobby of photography with her desire to help people and ultimately tell the story of Olivewood through her photographs. “I wanted my photos to serve as a sort of time capsule for the cemetery, capturing a sliver of history and documenting what Olivewood looked like at that moment in time,” French said. “I also wanted to make people realize how beautiful life is. Something may seem so small to one person and yet it is huge to another person. It’s important for everyone to see the importance of Olivewood.” From decaying headstones and overgrown vegetation to damage from standing water, erosion and crumbling fences, French hopes her photographs exude a sense of serenity and peace, while inspiring and motivating others to help the Descendants of Olivewood group with their mission to restore the historic site. Additionally, Genevieve Keeney, president of the National Museum of Funeral History, encourages visitors to pay careful attention to the names of each photograph, as “they hold a deeper meaning than first meets the eye.” Keeney didn’t hesitate to hop on the Olivewood “bandwagon” the moment she saw French’s photographs and instantly knew she wanted to create an exhibit around them at the Museum. “Rarely does the Museum get to feature something so Houston-centric, so the opportunity for us to curate an exhibit about something so important to our city’s history is an honor,” said Keeney. “Plus, Honoring Olivewood ensures the people in the cemetery do not experience a second death, which is when there is nobody left who knows who you were, who can carry on your legacy. We never want to see Olivewood become another forgotten part of Houston. It deserves to be remembered and the people who rest there deserve to be honored.” Olivewood Cemetery’s long history began with slave burials, with two of its earliest headstones dating back to 1869 and 1871. In 1875, 10 years after Emancipation arrived for Texas slaves, Richard Brock – Houston’s first black alderman – bought the land as a cemetery for black Methodists and officially established and incorporated the cemetery. What started with 444 plots eventually grew to more than 4,000 plots. The last known marked burial occurred in the 1960s and a large number of Houston’s prominent African “Heavenly” by Kasey French, 2011 American citizens are buried there. “Most people don’t realize, but everyone in Houston is connected to Olivewood,” said Cook. “After all, Houston was built by the slaves and freemen that are interred in Olivewood. They were fueled by the oil boom, although not petroleum oil, as everyone might think, but cottonseed oil.” In the 1970s, most of the eight acres that make up the cemetery became overgrown with vegetation, much of which covered the headstones, and the banks of White Oak Bayou were encroaching on the cemetery’s edges. Olivewood Cemetery came to this state of abandonment as a result of the loss of proper ingress and egress. As local businesses encroached, newer cemeteries were established and local community members moved away, Olivewood was left unattended. In 2004, after years of neglect, the Descendants of Olivewood, Inc., began its efforts to restore, preserve, and maintain the cemetery and the Texas Historical Commission granted the cemetery a Texas Historic Cemetery designation in 2005. Since then, this group of passionate volunteers has rescued more than half of “Gate” by Kasey French, 2011 Olivewood Cemetery from the overgrown brush. The Descendants have implemented a five-year plan for Olivewood, which includes restoration and even the possibility of a museum. Entrance into the Honoring Olivewood exhibit at the National Museum of Funeral History is included in the price of general admission to the museum. Tickets are available online at www.nmfh.org or on-site at the National Museum of Funeral History, located at 415 Barren Springs Dr., Houston, TX 77090. For more information, visit www.nmfh.org or call 281.876.3063. For more information on the Descendants of Olivewood, visit www.descendantsofolivewood.org. ### FOR HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGES, PLEASE CONTACT MONICA RHODES, [email protected] or 979.285.8512. About the National Museum of Funeral History The National Museum of Funeral History houses the country's largest collection of funeral service artifacts and features renowned exhibits on one of man's oldest cultural customs. Visitors can discover the mourning rituals of ancient civilizations, see up-close the authentic items used in the funerals of U.S. Presidents and Popes and explore the rich heritage of the industry which cares for the dead. The museum is located at 415 Barren Springs Dr., Houston, TX 77090 and is open Monday – Friday from 10 am – 4 pm, Saturday from 10 am – 5 pm and Sunday from 12 pm – 5 pm. Admission is $10 for adults and children age 12 and older, $9 for seniors and veterans; $7 for children 6 – 11 years old; and free for children age 5 and younger. For more information, visit www.nmfh.org, like us on Facebook or call 281.876.3063. .

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