For more than 120 years, Greenwood Cemetery has served as the final resting place for many of Nashville’s African-American community members.
The Greenwood Project, started in 2014 by Kathy Lauder, seeks to create an as comprehensive list as possible of individuals buried in the historic African American Greenwood Cemetery here in Nashville, Tennessee (including Mt. Ararat & Greenwood Cemetery West). Burial records are culled from a variety of sources, including personal family knowledge, newspaper obituaries, death certificates, extant burial listings, and more.
As a complement to her work, Kathy creates short (exactly 160 word) biographies of interred individuals to showcase the rich life experiences of those that lie in rest at the cemetery. Those biographies are listed below. New bios are posted each week on the Greenwood Project Facebook page. Visit the page to connect with others interested in the cemetery and those buried there. If you have family members and loved ones at Greenwood, please let Kathy know! Remember, this list does not represent everyone buried at Greenwood so visit the Find-A-Grave page to see more individuals.
- Adkins, Ceclia Nabrit – bio
- Adkins, Nanci Cherry Pugh – bio
- Adkins, Dr. Rutherford Hamlet – bio
- Adkins, Dr. Vivian Bernice Lee – bio
- Allen, Beverly Beatrice Fowler – bio
- Allen, Henry W. – bio
- Allison, Eula Gray – bio
- Allison, Evelyn Louise – bio
- Andrews, Robert Lee – bio
- Anthony, Rita M. White – bio
- Ashhurst, Dr. John Christopher – bio
- Bailey, Deford – bio
- Bandy, Dr. George Henry – bio
- Barbee, Lucille – bio
- Bateman, John – bio
- Battle, James Frank – bio
- Battle, Joseph O. – bio
- Battle, John Henry – bio
- Bishop, Rev. Alice B. Hill – bio
- Bodenhamer, Capt. William David – bio
- Bontemps, Arna Wendell – bio
- Bosley, John Beale – bio
- Bowman, Eva Lowery – bio
- Bowman, Lemuel Arthur – bio
- Boyd, Henry Allen – bio
- Boyd, Richard Henry – bio
- Boyd, Dr. Robert Fulton – bio
- Bradley, Dr. J. Robert Lee – bio
- Braden, Rev. John W. – bio
- Bradford, Henry – bio
- Bragg, Dr. Emma Louise White – bio
- Brewster, William C. – bio
- Bronson, Edna Barnett – bio
- Brown, Dr. Dorothy Lavinia – bio
- Brown, Dr. Jackson Hicks – bio
- Brown Sr., William H. – bio
- Bryant, Ruth Holmes – bio
- Buckley Sr., Wiliam Roy – bio
- Bunch, Sidney – bio
- Burgess, Dr. Landry Edward – bio | profile
- Burgess, Rev. Elizabeth Kennedy – bio | profile
- Burrus, James Dallas – bio
- Burrus, John Houston – bio
- Burrus, Dr. Preston Robert – bio
- Cameron, Lieut. Henry Alvin – bio
- Campbell, Julius – bio
- Carney, Joe Edward – bio
- Carr, Benjamin J. – bio
- Carroll, Joe Howard – bio
- Carter, Overton – bio
- Carter Jr., Dr. Hazo William – bio
- Caruth, Willie Thurl – bio
- Chandler, Elzer M. Spence – bio
- Cheatham, Adolphus Anthony “Doc” – bio
- Childress, Samuel – bio
- Childress, Wiley – bio
- Churchwell Sr., Robert – bio
- Clark, Cortelia – bio
- Coffee, Rev. Adlai Stevenson – bio
- Coleman, Mattie Elizabeth Howard – bio
- Covington, Florence- bio
- Cox, Benjamin – bio
- Cox, Jeannette Norvell Keeble – bio
- Crawford, Libby Davis “Miss Libby” – bio
- Creswell Sr., Isaiah Thomas – bio
- Creswell, Pearl Winifred Sanders – bio
- Dansby, Dr. Pearl May Gore – bio
- Darden, Lillian Elizabeth Allen – bio
- Darden, Thomas J. – bio
- Davis, Walter Strother – bio
- Delaney, Toussaint L’Ouverture- bio
- Dillard, Ben A. – bio
- Edmond, Dr. Dorothy Coley – bio
- Edmondson, William – bio
- Early, Jordan Winston – bio
- Early, Sara Jane Woodson – bio
- Easley, Gwendolyn Eugenia Hardison – bio
- Elam, Dr. Lloyd C. – bio
- Ellington, William Singleton – bio
- Ennix Sr., Coyness Loyal – bio
- Ferguson, Meredith G. – bio
- Fite, Charles “Charlie” Howard – bio
- Fitzgerald Jr., Bowling O. – bio
- Forde, Dr. William A.E. – bio
- Foster, William Clark – bio
- Francis, Nellie Griswold – bio
- Francis, William Trevanne – bio
- Frierson, John Wesley – bio
- Frister, Corporal Solomon F. – bio
- Fulton, John Evans – bio
- Giddings, Maxine June Walker – bio
- Gillam Sr., Joseph W. – bio
- Gooch, Monroe – bio
- Gore Jr., Dr. George W. – bio
- Gowdy, Capt. Charles C. – bio
- Green, Inman E. – bio
- Gunter, Marcus – bio
- Hadley, Dr. Charles O. – bio
- Hadley, Dr. William Abrum – bio
- Hale, John Henry – bio
- Hale, Millie Essie Gibson – bio
- Hall, Minnie Tate – bio
- Hamlett, Robert Lee – bio
- Hanson, Dr. Axel C. – bio
- Harding, Henry – bio
- Harding, James – bio
- Harris, Rev. Ransom – bio
- Harris, Solomon P. – bio
- Harris, Vander Edthridge – bio
- Hawkins Sr., William Daniel – bio
- Hightower, Brown – bio
- Hill, Zema W. – bio
- Hobson, William Nathan – bio
- Holloway, Dr. Guerney Douglas – bio
- Holloway, Herbert M. – bio
- Holloway, Josephine Groves – bio
- Hooper, George – bio
- Hooper, Sarah – bio
- House, Callie Guy – bio
- Howard Jr., Dr. David Hooper – bio
- Hubbard, Dr. George Whipple – bio
- Hudson, Robert Jackson – bio
- Irvin, Capt. W.L. – bio
- Jackson, Oscar Robert – bio
- Jackson, Rev. T. Spencer – bio
- Johnson, Dr. Charles Spurgeon – bio
- Johnson, Halle Tanner Dillon – bio
- Jordan, Corporal Benjamin – bio
- Jordan, Lewis G. – bio
- Keeble, Laura Catherine Jackson – bio
- Keeble, Marshall – bio
- Keeble, Sampson Wesley – bio
- Kelley, Rev. Alfred Z. – bio
- Kelley, Lizzie N. – bio
- Kennedy, William Goff – bio
- Key, Willis F. – bio
- Kilcrease Jr., Irvin H. – bio
- Kimbro, Henry “Kimmie” – bio
- Knight, Robert – bio
- Langston Jr., Carroll Napier – bio
- Langston Sr., Carroll Napier – bio
- Lathan, William – bio
- Lemore, Dr. James Henry – bio
- Lester, Dr. John Angelo – bio
- Lewis, Felix Early – bio
- Lillard, Robert E. – bio
- Looby, Zephaniah Alexander – bio
- Lyon, Kate L. – bio
- Martin, Jefferson S. – bio
- Mason, Salem – bio
- McCord, Clinton Hill “Butch” – bio
- McCullough Jr., Rev. Robert – bio
- McGavock, Nelson – bio
- McGruder, Curlie Emphlicsa Haslip – bio
- McKissak, Calvin Lunsford – bio
- McKissack III, Moses – bio
- McMillan, Dr. Julius Augustus – bio
- McNairy, Ellis C. – bio
- Merritt, John Ayers – bio
- Merry, Nelson G. – bio
- Merry, Mary Anna Jones – bio
- Moore, Joanna P. – bio
- Moore, Ross P. – bio
- Moore, Thomas Clay – bio
- Napier, Henry Alonzo – bio
- Napier, James Carroll – bio
- Napier, Nettie DeElla Langston Napier – bio
- Napier, William Carroll – bio
- Neely, Beverly Gail – bio
- Newsom, Alfred – bio
- Noel Jr., Henry Thomas – bio
- Noel Sr., Dr. Henry Thomas – bio
- Overton, Jelani Khalib – bio
- Page, Robert Joe – bio
- Paschall. Osborn – bio
- Patterson, Bertha L. Ridley – bio
- Payne Jr., Joseph A. – bio
- Perry, Hattie McDaniel – bio
- Petway, Isham H. – bio
- Pierce, Juno Seay Frankie – bio
- Poindexter, Prof. Charles C. – bio
- Pope, Austin P. – bio
- Price, Josie – bio
- Reed, Lillie H. Martin – bio
- Reed, Waymon L. – bio
- Reed, Dr. William A. – bio
- Reed, William B. “Uncle Billy” – bio
- Rhines, John Porter – bio
- Rhines, Susie Luvenia Page – bio
- Richardson, Capt. Reuben B. – bio
- Richardson, Dr. Reuben Lester – bio
- Rohelia, Cornelia Bugg Sheppard – bio
- Robinson, America W. – bio
- Roman, Charles Victor – bio
- Rucker, Paula Ruth Peppers – bio
- Sanders, Frances Agnew – bio
- Seay, Nellie Allen – bio
- Scott, Isaiah Benjamin – bio
- Shelton, Roscoe – bio
- Simmons, Rev. William James – bio
- Simpkins, Millie “Black Mamie” – bio
- Smith, Kelly Miller – bio
- Stewart, Dr. Ferdinand A. – bio
- Stone, Augusta – bio
- Stone, Hortense – bio
- Stone, Lee – bio
- Stone, Nannie – bio
- Stone, Sallie – bio
- Street, Gretchen Joyce Crutcher – bio
- Sumner Jr., William Alexander – bio
- Sumner Sr., William Alexander – bio
- Talley, Thomas Washington – bio
- Tarkington, Edward L. – bio
- Tate, Cynthia Jane Jackson – bio
- Tate, Deacon Ray – bio
- Tate, James – bio
- Tate, Mary Magdelena “Lena” Street Lewis – bio
- Taylor, Barbara Louise – bio
- Taylor, Georgia Gordon – bio
- Taylor, Preston – bio
- Thomas, Lillian Dunn – bio
- Thompson, Marshall – bio
- Todd Jr., Dr. David Bernard – bio
- Townsend, Dr. Arthur Melvin – bio
- Townsend, Willa Ann Hadley – bio
- Turner, Jay Thomas – bio
- Tyree, Bishop Evans – bio
- Vandervall, Randall – bio
- Wadkins, Daniel – bio
- Walker, Dr. Charlotte Rose – bio
- Walker, Dr. Matthew – bio
- Walker Jr., Dr. Matthew – bio
- Walker, Nelson – bio
- Washington, George E. – bio
- Watkins, Georgia Ella – bio
- Watson, John Ira – bio
- Welch Jr., Rev. Wilson Q. – bio
- Wells, Dr. Josie English – bio
- West, Dr. Harold D. – bio
- West Sr., Rev. Ottie L. – bio
- White, Carrie Richardson – bio
- White, Willis – bio
- White Jr., Dr. George Richardson – bio
- White, Kathryn Lee – bio
- White, Sgt. Madison – bio
- Williams Jr., Avon Nyanza – bio
- Williams, Dr. McDonald – bio
- Williams, Peggy Muse – bio
- Wilson, Thomas T. – bio
- Wingfield, Robert – bio
- Winston, Fountain “Uncle Fount” – bio
- Winston Jr., John Elmer – bio
- Winter, Lewis – bio
- Woods, George – bio
- Womack, Samuel W. – bio
- Work II, John Wesley – bio
- Work III, John Wesley – bio
- Work Sr., John Wesley – bio
- Wright, Jerome I. – bio
- Wynn, Robert – bio
List last updated: June 6, 2021
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