History of Greenwood Cemetery
History Rests Here
Greenwood Cemetery as an internment ground was believed to have been established in the late 1800’s. Research via the Tuskegee University Bioethics Center partnership has determined that the first person buried in the cemetery was A. D. Edwards (1859 – 1884).
In 1927, the Greenwood Cemetery Association was created as a formal organization to manage the grounds which are located at 1107 Old Montgomery Road, Tuskegee Institute, Alabama. The founding members of the association were: Catherine Moton Patterson, Catherine Sellers, Henry Howard and Warner Kennedy. The founding members were a cross section of community people with a commitment to reserving history.
According to the Minutes of the Board of Trustees, Tuskegee Institute, October 21, 1943, p. 12, Transfer of Title of Deed to Greenwood Cemetery, Incorporated was approved. Further Minutes of the Board of Trustees, from Tuskegee Institute, November 2, 1973, page 2, Deed of Land to Greenwood Cemetery, Inc. was approved.
As a partner with Tuskegee Institute now University, burial space was allocated for International students, faculty and staff. professors, community persons, farmers, health care workers, and later Tuskegee Airmen, veterans of all wars, artist, Tuskegee Institute employees, civil rights advocates, and people of all walks of life.
Today these hallowed grounds are a part of the historic fabric of the history of the Tuskegee Community.
A cross-section of the famous Tuskegee Airmen are buried in the Greenwood Cemetery.
Through its sustainability there are now in excess of four-thousand grave sites on the property.