Welcome
Nestled against a bend of White Oak Bayou, and surrounded by rich Houston history, lies Olivewood, the city’s first incorporated African American cemetery. It’s been a jungle for years - the headstones have been literally buried under massive carpets of vegetation. Extending over an estimated 8 acres, only the front quarter of the cemetery had been successfully cleared of the seemingly endless tropical abundance including poison ivy and oak. For a long time, only the larger mortuary architecture rising above the undergrowth has hinted at Olivewood’s location.
Descendants of Olivewood, Inc. is dedicated to the reclamation of this cemetery for the benefit of the present and future generations of Houston. We are committed to restoring, preserving and maintaining Olivewood Cemetery as a historic, educational, charitable, religious and cultural site of importance.
Call to Action
The Descendants of Olivewood have a big job ahead of them and we need your help!
We need people to help us by:
- Mowing
- Doing historical research
- Identifying wildlife
- Conducting surveys
- Collecting oral histories
- Fund raising
For more information, please contact Margott Williams. And visit our Support page.
Use the Amazon widget on this page to start your Amazon shopping, and Descendants of Olivewood get 4% of your purchase price! Tell your friends!
More About Olivewood
- We are learning more every day about Olivewood Cemetery, the people who are buried in it, and the culture that created it. Please visit the History page to read more.
- View more photos on the Olivewood Cemetery Flickr page.
