Eden Cemetery (Collingdale, Pennsylvania) facts for kids
Eden Cemetery Entrance
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| Details | |
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| Established | 1902 |
| Location |
1434 Springfield Road, Collingdale, Pennsylvania
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| Country | United States |
| Type | private |
| Size | 53 acres |
| No. of graves | 93,000 |
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Eden Cemetery
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 Location in Pennsylvania
Location in the United States
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| NRHP reference No. | 10001031 |
| Added to NRHP | December 13, 2010 |
Eden Cemetery is a special place in Collingdale, Pennsylvania. It is a historic cemetery for African Americans. It opened on June 20, 1902. This makes it the oldest cemetery in the United States owned by Black people. The cemetery is quite large, about 53 acres. Around 93,000 people are buried there.
Contents
A Place for Honoring History
Eden Cemetery was created because of a need for a dedicated burial ground. In the early 1900s, several cemeteries in Philadelphia were closing. Many African Americans were buried in these places. People wanted to make sure these individuals had a proper resting place.
How Eden Cemetery Started
Jerome Bacon helped start Eden Cemetery. He was a teacher at the Institute for Colored Youth. This school later became Cheyney University. Mr. Bacon worked to create a new cemetery. It would be a place for African Americans.
Bodies from older cemeteries were moved to Eden. These included Lebanon Cemetery and the Olive Graveyard. Some burials moved to Eden were very old. The oldest reburial dates back to 1721.
Facing Challenges to Open
Creating Eden Cemetery was not easy. Some local people in Collingdale did not want an African-American cemetery. But a special permission was given on June 20, 1902. This allowed Eden Cemetery to be created.
The land chosen was 53 acres. It used to be part of Bartram Farms. The first meeting for the cemetery happened on August 9, 1902. Important Black community leaders from Philadelphia were part of this group.
- President - John C. Asbury, a lawyer
- Secretary - Jerome Bacon, the teacher who helped start it
- Treasurer - Martin J. Lehmann, a cigar maker
The very first burial at Eden Cemetery was delayed. Local protestors blocked the entrance during the day. The burial had to happen at night. A newspaper headline from that time showed the local opposition.
Honoring Soldiers and Leaders
On May 30, 1919, a memorial was built. It honors Black soldiers from Pennsylvania. They fought and died in France during World War I.
In 2008, some headstones in the cemetery were damaged. This included the grave of Octavius Catto, a famous civil rights leader.
In 2010, Eden Cemetery was recognized as a historic place. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Volunteers still help take care of the cemetery today.
In 2015, a monument was placed for Pauline Oberdorfer Minor. She was one of the 22 founders of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. This monument honors her important legacy.
Notable People Buried Here
Many important people are buried at Eden Cemetery. They include artists, leaders, and pioneers.
- Marian Anderson (1897–1993), a world-famous opera singer.
- Ruth L. Bennett (1866–1947), a social reformer. She was the first president of the Chester branch of the NAACP.
- John C. Bowers (1811–1873), an entrepreneur and abolitionist.
- John Pierre Burr (c. 1792–1864), an abolitionist and community leader.
- Octavius Catto (1839–1871), a civil rights leader and baseball pioneer.
- Dr. Rebecca J Cole (1846–1922), the second African-American woman to become a doctor in the U.S.
- James DePreist (1936–2013), a famous African-American orchestra conductor.
- Henrietta Duterte (1817–1903), a funeral home owner and helper of others.
- Jessie Redmon Fauset (1882–1961), an important editor, poet, and novelist.
- James Forten (1766–1842), an African-American abolitionist and businessman.
- Timothy Thomas Fortune (1856–1928), a journalist and civil rights leader.
- Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825–1911), a poet and abolitionist.
- Absalom Jones (1746–1818), an African-American abolitionist and religious leader.
- Pauline Oberdorfer Minor (1885–1963), a founder of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
- Robert Penn (1872–1912), a hero from the Spanish-American War. He received the Medal of Honor.
- Stephen Smith (1796–1873), an African-American businessman and abolitionist.
- William Still (1821–1902), a key abolitionist.
- John Baxter Taylor, Jr. (1882–1908), a track and field athlete. He was the first African-American Olympic Gold Medalist.
- Charles Albert Tindley (1851–1933), a minister and composer.
- George Henry White (1852–1918), a U.S. Congressman from North Carolina.
- Hannah Archer Till (c. 1721–1826), a personal cook for George Washington during the American Revolutionary War.
