upload image

US Black Heritage African-American Funeral Homes

Privacy Level: Open (White)
Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surname/tag: black heritage
Profile manager: Denise Jarrett private message [send private message]
This page has been accessed 296 times.

This page will provide a list of African-American Funeral Homes in the United States. The list is organized in alphabetical order by State.

Contents

History of the Black Funeral Homes

West African Traditions were brought the Americas with the slaves.[1] American funeral traditions changed in the late 19th century. Undertaking, which once meant building coffins, became a profession where blacks played an important role.

Prior to the Civil War, when people died, a group of women from the community might help a family with death care at home to help the family to prepare the deceased to be laid out in the parlor and then buried.

Over 600,000 people died in the Civil War, many of whom were far from home. Families wanted their loved ones shipped home for a funeral and local burial. After President Lincoln was shot, his body was embalmed, and embalming the dead to slow down decomposition became common.

Black soldiers and civilians were assigned to recover the dead, embalm them, and either bury them or get them shipped home. While the work was something no one else may have wanted to do, the black workers both performed a noble service and gained vocational training.

The undertaker profession took off after the war, and many blacks benefited from the trend. In a segregated Jim Crow world, black undertakers provided vital services to the black community by preparing bodies for burial in a manner respectful of their customs and traditions. Black funeral homes were among the most profitable black endeavors, along with black bars, black beauty and barber salons, and the black church.

Prince Greer was an expert embalmer during the Civil War, and the first historically recorded African-American to hold such a position.[2]

As the funeral industry developed, blacks were expelled from the National Funeral Directors Association, so they formed the National Funeral Directors & Morticians Association. to look out for their interests and preserve burial traditions. While neither organization is segregated today, the membership of the NFDA remains mostly, while the NFDMA has mostly black members.

Alabama

  1. Glen White Memorial Funeral Home, 255 Franklin St., Uniontown, AL 36786, Tel: (334) 628-4911 [3]
  2. Vines Funeral Home and Ambulance Service, 211 B Street SW, Lafayette, Chambers County, Alabama 36862.[4]

Florida

  1. Paradise Memorial Funeral Home, 14545 Carver Drive, Miami, Florida 33176.

Georgia

  1. Jackson-McWhorter Funeral Home, 1253 West Broad Street, Athens, GA 30606, Tel: 706-543-3623 https://jacksonmcwhorterfuneralhome.com/
  2. Silmon-Seroyer Funeral Home, 612 M. L. King Drive SE, La Fayette, AL 36862, Tel: 1-334-864-7208 | 1-334-864-8188[5]
  3. Vines Funeral Home, [6]
  4. Watts Funeral Home, 1005 DOLVIN AVENUE UNION POINT, GA 30669 | TEL: 706-486-4557 | FAX: 706-486-2554 (1943- )[7]

Indiana

  1. Jacobs Brothers Funeral Home, Indianapolis, Indiana (c1933-?)[8]

Louisiana

  1. Benevolent Funeral Home Inc., 1624 Milam St., Shreveport, Louisiana. (no website)
  2. Heavenly Gates Funeral Home, Shreveport, Louisiana[9]
  3. Precious Memories Mortuary, Shreveport, Louisiana,[10]
  4. Winnfield Funeral Homes, Shreveport, Louisiana[11]

Michigan

  1. J R Riley Funeral Home, Inc., Lansing, Michigan [12]

Minnesota

  1. Brooks Funeral Home, St. Paul, Minnesota[13]

Mississippi

  1. Craft-Ginn Funeral Chapel, Tylertown, Mississippi[14]
  2. Washington Funeral Home, Tylertown, Mississippi[15]

North Carolina

  1. Davidson Bros. Funeral Home, Charlotte, North Carolina (1935- ??)
  2. Simmons Funeral Home, Plymouth, North Carolina
  3. Toodles Funeral Home, Plymouth, North Carolina

Ohio

  1. Brooks Funeral Home, Massillon[16]
  2. Calhoun Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Cleveland, Akron, Bedford Heights, Ohio[17]
  3. Caliman Funeral Services, Columbus, Ohio [18]
  4. E.F. Boyd and Son's Funeral Home, Cleveland, Ohio (1905- )[19]
  5. Gaines Funeral Home, Cleveland, Ohio[20]
  6. House of Wheat Funeral Home, Dayton, Ohio (1969 - )[21]
  7. House of Wills Funeral Home, also known as or owned by Gee & Wills and J.W. Wills Co., Cleveland, Ohio, 1904-2005[22]
  8. Marlan Gary Funeral Home Chapel of Peace[23]
  9. Smoot Funeral Home, Columbus, Ohio[24]
  10. Watsons Funeral Home, Cleveland, Ohio[25]

South Carolina

  1. Jackson-Brooks Funeral Home, Aiken, South Carolina (1912- ) (Robert A Brooks was one of the owners at his death)[26]

Tennessee

  1. E H Ford Mortuary Services
  2. K. Gardner Funeral Home, Nashville, Tennessee category
  3. Patton Brothers Funeral Home, Nashville, Tennessee category
  4. Rawls Funeral Home, Brownsville, Tennessee category

Texas

  1. Allen Dave Funeral Homes & Crematorium, Houston, Texas (3 TX locations and 1 LA location)[27]
  2. Black & Clark Funeral Home, Dallas, Texas[28]
  3. Duncan Mortuary, Inc., Houston, Texas[29]
  4. Haynes Mortuary, Inc. #529, Texarkana, Texas[30]
  5. King-Tears Mortuary, Austin, Texas[31]
  6. Lewis Funeral Home, Marshall, Texas[32]
  7. |Lewis & Walker Funeral Home, Jefferson, Texas
  8. Lockwood Funeral Home [33]


Virginia

  1. A.D. Price Funeral Home in Richmond, VA[34][35][36]

Sources

  1. ↑ https://agoodgoodbye.com/funeral-traditions/celebrating-the-history-of-african-american-funeral-traditions/
  2. ↑ https://emergingcivilwar.com/2018/02/17/prince-greer-slave-freedman-and-entrepreneur/
  3. ↑ https://www.glenwhitememorial.com/
  4. ↑ National Register of Historic Places
  5. ↑ https://www.silmonseroyerfh.com/listings
  6. ↑ https://www.vinesfuneralhome.com/index.cfm?p=Obituaries
  7. ↑ [1]
  8. ↑ Genealogy Center, Allen County, Indiana, Jacobs Brothers Funeral Home Records
  9. ↑ https://www.heavenlygates.net/
  10. ↑ https://www.preciousmemoriessheveport.com/
  11. ↑ https://www.winnfieldfuneralhome-shreveport.com/
  12. ↑ https://www.rileyfuneralhome.com/staff
  13. ↑ https://www.brooksfuneralhomemn.com/who-we-are/our-history
  14. ↑ https://www.craftfuneralhome.org/
  15. ↑ https://www.washingtonfuneralservice.com/<ref></ref>

    New York

    1. Latimer & Son Funeral Home, Rochester, New York<ref>https://melatimerfuneralhome.com/</li>

    <li id="_note-15">[[#_ref-15|↑]] [[Brooks-6712|John Clarence Brooks Jr.'s]] obituary mentions that he was the owner of Brooks Funeral Home. Unknown if it is still in business.</li> <li id="_note-16">[[#_ref-16|↑]] https://calhounfuneral.com/about/our-history/</li> <li id="_note-17">[[#_ref-17|↑]] https://www.calimanfuneralservices.com/</li> <li id="_note-18">[[#_ref-18|↑]] https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/black-history-month/e-f-boyd-and-sons-funeral-home-one-of-clevelands-oldest-black-funeral-homes</li> <li id="_note-19">[[#_ref-19|↑]] https://www.gainesfuneralhome.com/about-us</li> <li id="_note-20">[[#_ref-20|↑]] https://www.houseofwheat.com/our-history</li> <li id="_note-21">[[#_ref-21|↑]] https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/911; https://case.edu/ech/articles/h/house-wills</li> <li id="_note-22">[[#_ref-22|↑]] https://www.thechapelofpeace.com/our-staff/</li> <li id="_note-23">[[#_ref-23|↑]] https://www.smootfuneral.com/</li> <li id="_note-24">[[#_ref-24|↑]] https://www.watsonsfuneralhome.com/about-us</li> <li id="_note-25">[[#_ref-25|↑]] https://www.jackson-brooksfuneralhome.com/</li> <li id="_note-26">[[#_ref-26|↑]] https://www.allendave.com/?&fh_id=12102</li> <li id="_note-27">[[#_ref-27|↑]] https://blackandclark.com/9/Home.html</li> <li id="_note-28">[[#_ref-28|↑]] https://www.duncanmortuary.com/</li> <li id="_note-29">[[#_ref-29|↑]] https://www.haynesmortuary.com/</li> <li id="_note-30">[[#_ref-30|↑]] https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=26008</li> <li id="_note-31">[[#_ref-31|↑]] https://www.lewisfuneralhometx.com/</li> <li id="_note-32">[[#_ref-32|↑]] https://www.dignitymemorial.com/funeral-homes/texas/houston/lockwood-funeral-home/7973</li> <li id="_note-33">[[#_ref-33|↑]] https://www.nps.gov/places/a-d-price-funeral-home.htm</li> <li id="_note-34">[[#_ref-34|↑]] https://virginiahistory.org/learn/d-price-funeral-establishment</li>

    <li id="_note-35">[[#_ref-35|↑]] https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=5601</li></ol></ref>




Collaboration
  • Login to edit this profile and add images.
  • Private Messages: Send a private message to the Profile Manager. (Best when privacy is an issue.)
  • Public Comments: Login to post. (Best for messages specifically directed to those editing this profile. Limit 20 per day.)


Comments

Leave a message for others who see this profile.
There are no comments yet.
Login to post a comment.

Categories: United States, Companies | African-American Family History