Almost Forgotten
Almost Forgotten
Shady Grove Cemetery
The historic Shady Grove Cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Shady Grove is one of hundreds of cemeteries maintained by newly freed African Americans across the South in the aftermath of the Civil War. The cemetery provides insight into the nature of slavery in Missouri; how enslaved people freed themselves; the role of African American men like Washington Giboney in preserving the Union: the challenges faced by freed people during Reconstruction; and the roles of the church, the school, and mutual aid societies in the Black community.
Bob Blythe was recruited by one of Washington Giboney’s descendants in June 2021 to create the nomination to place Shady Grove on the National Register.
Shady Grove is the resting place of more than 250 members of the area’s Black community. The graves date prior to the Civil War. It would appear that the cemetery was likely cared for by newly freed enslaved people who built their community in the Dutchtown area. The freed African Americans wanted the ability to control the rituals surrounding their dead. It was important for the Blacks to support their dead in cemeteries that were maintained better than the second-class graves that were available at the segregated cemeteries allowed in the Jim Crow era.
The cemetery was deeded in the 1890s, and up to the 1960s, the cemetery served as the internment place for 182 people. Records show that burials slowed down around the 1940s.
The homes and segregated school that were located near the cemetery grounds have all been demolished. Only the graves remain as evidence of the Black community. The fact that the only remaining symbol of existence of the Black community there make the importance of the cemetery so valuable.
“Walking among the remaining headstones in this wooded, rural setting provides compelling testimony of the lives of the African Americans who buried their dead here and gathered to honor them year after year,” as stated on the preservation form.
Shady Grove Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in February of 2022, at the Missouri State Historic Preservation Office, Department of Natural Resources, Jefferson City, MO 65102.
Location: County Road 211, Cape Girardeau, MO, 63701 (Deadend)
Bob Blythe has a B.A. in American History from Roosevelt University and an M.A. in the History of Architecture from the University of Illinois, Chicago. He retired in 2006 as regional historian for the U.S. National Park Service’s Southeast Region. Since then, he has undertaken a number of assignments as a consultant, including a history of Everglades National Park and National Register of Historic Places nominations for sites connected to the Civil Rights Movement in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The article was written by Brenda Newbern and published by visitcape