Columbian Harmony Cemetery

Columbian Harmony Cemetery was an African-American cemetery that formerly existed at 9th Street NE and Rhode Island Avenue NE in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Constructed in 1859, it was the successor to the smaller Harmoneon Cemetery in downtown Washington. All graves in the cemetery were moved to National Harmony Memorial Park in Landover, Maryland, in 1959. The cemetery site was sold to developers, and a portion used for the Rhode Island Avenue – Brentwood Washington Metro station.

History

Formation and early years

The Columbian Harmony Society was a mutual aid society formed on November 25, 1825, by free African Americans to aid other black people.^[1][2] On April 7, 1828, it established the "Harmoneon," a cemetery exclusively for members of the society. This was a 1.3 acres (5,300 m²) cemetery bounded by 5th Street NW, 6th Street NW, S Street NW, and Boundary Street NW.^[2] Burials began in 1829.^[3]

On June 5, 1852, the Council of the City of Washington in the District of Columbia passed a local ordinance that barred the creation of new cemeteries anywhere within Georgetown or within the area bounded by Boundary Street (northwest and northeast), 15th Street (east), East Capitol Street, the Anacostia River, the Potomac River, and Rock Creek. A number of new cemeteries were therefore established in the "rural" areas in and around Washington: Columbian Harmony Cemetery in D.C.; Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Silver Spring, Maryland; Glenwood Cemetery in D.C.; Mount Olivet Cemetery in D.C.; and Woodlawn Cemetery in D.C.^[4]

As Harmoneon quickly filled, the society was forced to find new burial grounds. It acquired on July 1, 1857, a 17 acres (69,000 m²) tract bounded by Rhode Island Avenue NE, Brentwood Road NE, T Street NE, and the railroad tracks of the Capital Subdivision of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Transferral of graves was completed in 1859.^[5] It sold the old Harmoneon site for $4,000.^[6] An 18 acres (73,000 m²) tract adjacent to the Columbian Harmony Cemetery was purchased in the summer of 1886.^[7] From the early 1880s to the 1920s, Columbian Harmony Cemetery was the most active black cemetery in Washington, with 21.8 percent of all African-American burials occurring there. It never ranked lower than fourth in total African-American burials, and between 1892 and 1919 it was number one in every year but one. In 1895 alone, one-third of Washington's blacks were buried there.^[8] Columbian Harmony was one of the "big five" of black cemeteries in the District of Columbia.^[9] By 1900 landscaping and roads were added throughout the cemetery. A chapel was built in 1899, and a caretaker's lodge in 1912.^[10]

Management troubles

Columbian Harmony Cemetery was filling so rapidly that its owners considered purchasing a new cemetery outside the District of Columbia. By 1901, it held 10,000 graves.^[11] In 1929, the society purchased 44.75 acres (181,100 m²) near Landover, Maryland, for $18,000.^[12] Some of the owners of existing burial plots sued in 1949 to prevent relocation of graves.^[13] Although some burials took place at the new cemetery, no grave relocations took place. In 1950, the society stopped new burials at Columbian Harmony Cemetery.^[14] In 1953, the society relocated the few graves at Huntsville to a nearby cemetery and sold its property for $178,000 to a real estate development company.^[15]

The lack of new burials left the cemetery in a difficult financial situation. The cemetery was experiencing an annual loss of $3,000 a year.^[15]

Closure and relocation of graves

In 1957, real-estate investor Louis N. Bell offered to buy Columbian Harmony Cemetery. Bell informed the society that he would expand his 107.5 acres (435,000 m²) Forest Lawn Cemetery (which was near the society's former property in Landover) by 65 acres (260,000 m²). He offered the society a 25 percent stake in the new cemetery and to pay all relocation costs in exchange for the property in D.C. Although the society rejected this offer, negotiations continued. Bell eventually agreed to also establish a perpetual care fund, designate a 30-acre (120,000 m²) section of the cemetery as the "Harmony Section", and allowed the society to appoint half the board of the new cemetery association.^[16]

Beginning in May 1960, approximately 37,000 graves were moved to National Harmony Memorial Park. The District of Columbia Department of Health had to draft and win approval of a whole new set of regulations to govern the relocations. A D.C. district court agreed to issue a single exhumation order, than review thousands of cases. All the heirs of those buried at Columbia Harmony Cemetery were contacted and their permission to move the graves secured. More than 100 workers exhumed, recreated in new coffins, moved, and reburied the dead.^[17] The re-interments were completed on November 17, 1960.^[18] It was the largest cemetery move in the nation's capital, and cost $1 million.^[19]

When the Rhode Island Avenue – Brentwood Metro station was constructed in 1976, a plaque was affixed to a column near one of the station's entrances to commemorate the former cemetery.^[20]

Headstone controversy

Unfortunately, the relocation agreement did not cover the existing memorials and monuments. According to the Maryland Historical Trust, none of the original grave markers were retained. Furthermore, most of the remains at Columbian Harmony Cemetery were transferred and reburied without identifying which person was being reburied.^[21]

The fate of many of the original markers remained a mystery for almost a half-century. In 2009, hikers found a large number of headstones from Columbian Harmony Cemetery lining the banks of the Potomac River on privately owned land near Caledon State Park in King George County, Virginia. According to the landowner, most of the headstones were buried on-site when the cemetery was relocated. However, the landowner was permitted to haul debris away from the site to use as riprap. This included granite headstones, highly detailed marble markers, and other funerary monuments.^[22]

Notable interments

A number of nationally and locally important African Americans were buried at Columbian Harmony Cemetery. Among them was the first African American D.C. firefighter (who name was not known) to die in the line of duty.^[23] Other notable interments included:

• Sandy Alexander (1818-1902), co-founder, First Baptist Church of Washington^[24]
• Osborne Perry Anderson (1830–1871), only surviving African-American member of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry.^[25]
• George Bell (1761–1843), co-founder of the first African-American school in Washington, D.C.
• George Brown (?-1897), the "Black Sousa" who led the Capital City Band^[26]
• Henrietta Vinton Davis, (1860-1941) actress, elocutionist, dramatist, impersonator and high-ranking member of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League.
• Christian Fleetwood (1840–1914), Medal of Honor recipient.^[27]
• William Henry Harrison Hart (1857–1934), co-founder of the Niagara Movement (predecessor of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.^[28]
• Thomas R. Hawkins (1840–1870), Medal of Honor recipient.
• Henry Lincoln Johnson (1871-1925), Republican National Committeeman from Georgia^[29]
• Robert Johnson (1870–1903), pastor, Metropolitan Baptist Church.^[30]
• Elizabeth Keckley (1818–1907), former slave, seamstress to Abraham Lincoln, civic activist, and author^[31]
• Henry Vincent Plummer (1844-1905), first African-American chaplain in the U.S. Army.
• Mary Ann Shadd (1823–1893), anti-slavery activist, first black woman publisher in North America, first woman publisher in Canada^[32]
• Robert Herberton Terrell (1857-1925), first African-American judge in Washington, D.C.^[33]
• James Wormley (1819-1884), owner of the Wormley Hotel, and only African-American present when Abraham Lincoln died.^[34]

References

Bibliography

• Richardson, Steven J. "The Burial Grounds of Black Washington: 1880-1919." Records of the Columbia Historical Society. 52 (1989), pp. 304–326.
• Savage, Beth L. and Shull, Carol D. African American Historic Places. Washington, D.C.: Preservation Press, 1994.
• Sluby, Sr. Paul E. and Wormley, Stanton Lawrence. History of the Columbian Harmony Society and of Harmony Cemetery, Washington, D.C. Rev ed. Washington, D.C.: The Society, 2001.