New York City Black Burial Ground Honoring Frederick Douglass Gets Landmarked

Its new landmark status will ensure the burial ground receives receives protections and resources for future generations.

A Black burial ground in Staten Island, New York, named in honor of Frederick Douglass, has received landmark status.

The New York City Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC) made the designation after a proposal released earlier this year. According to New York Amsterdam News, it decided to change its status given its history. It is one of the last cemeteries built by and for Black New Yorkers.

Its new landmark status will ensure the burial ground receives protection and resources for future generations. New York City Councilmember Kamillah Hanks declared the area a “celebration of African American heritage.”

“This recognition is long overdue and will solidify Frederick Douglass Memorial Park’s place in our city’s history,” said Hanks in a statement. “Landmark status will provide the necessary support and resources to maintain and enhance the park, allowing it to continue serving as a place of reflection, remembrance, and celebration of African American heritage. By (having it achieve) landmark status, we ensure that future generations recognize and honor the contributions of African Americans to our city’s rich history.”

Established as a memorial park in 1933, the grounds span 18 acres within Staten Island. Founded by Harlem funeral director Rodney Dade, it stood as a final resting place free of discrimination. The cemetery came to fruition two years later and remains active.

“Frederick Douglass Memorial Park represents the enduring strength and resilience of New York’s Black community, who created a place of beauty in the face of injustice and overcame racism and discrimination to ensure their loved ones had a dignified resting place,” said LPC Chair Sarah Carroll. “The landmark designation of this important site reflects LPC’s ongoing commitment to recognizing, protecting, and celebrating places of Black cultural and historical significance and ensures that Frederick Douglass Memorial Park will be preserved for future generations.”

Moreover, the cemetery holds an estimated 60,000 interments. These include famed jazz singer Mamie Smith and professional baseball player King Solomon “Sol” White. Granting Black people across the decades with “dignified burials” also provided an alternative to the unmarked mass graves often used.

A monument to Douglass, installed in 1961, remains on display within the memorial park. The cemetery also hosts a digital archive of those laid to rest there. Its Access, Collaboration, and Equity in Genealogy Initiative (ACEGen) spearheads the program, as supported by the New York Community Trust.

While residents and supporters celebrate the new landmark status, the burial ground organizers continue to work to record the histories of these Black ancestors.