SPECIAL REQUEST!!!
We have finally gotten the people resources to take on our most time-sensitive project--the erosion of graves, and the subsequent exposure and loss of human remains. The Community Archaeology Research Institute, Inc (CARI) is working with us to exhume the graves most at risk, identify individuals, and prepare them for reinterment in a more protected area of the cemetery.
CARI will need around $7000 to complete this work, and if they can raise it soon, they can start this summer. Download the Emergency Grave Recovery Project brochure, to read how you can help!
Welcome
Nestled against a bend of White Oak Bayou, and surrounded by rich Houston history, lies Olivewood, the city's first incorporated African American cemetery. It's been a jungle for years - the headstones have been literally buried under massive carpets of vegetation. Extending over an estimated 8 acres, only the front quarter of the cemetery had been successfully cleared of the seemingly endless tropical abundance including poison ivy and oak. For a long time, only the larger mortuary architecture rising above the undergrowth has hinted at Olivewood's location.
Descendants of Olivewood, Inc. is dedicated to the reclamation of this cemetery for the benefit of the present and future generations of Houston. We are committed to restoring, preserving and maintaining Olivewood Cemetery as a historic, educational, charitable, religious and cultural site of importance.
Read our Newsletter!
If you're not on our mailing list, take a look at the inaugural issue of our newsletter, mileStones! Then, sign up for our mailing list!
Recent Events
Olivewood's First Annual Halloween Party! Come see pictures!!
For All Your Online Shopping Needs!
Use the Amazon widget on this page to start your Amazon shopping, and Descendants of Olivewood get 4% of your purchase price! Tell your friends!
Shop at Krogers?
The Descendants of Olivewood have a big job ahead of them and we need your help! Please bring this form into your local Krogers to sign up for their Neighbor to Neighbor program. When you shop, Olivewood gets money! This program will be going through May, so stop back here soon to get the newest form!
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
The Descendants of Olivewood have a big job ahead of them and we need your help!
We need people to help us by:
- Serving on Committees
- Mowing
- Doing historical research
- Identifying wildlife
- Conducting surveys
- Collecting oral histories
- Fundraising
For more information, please contact Margott Williams. And visit our Support page.
More About Olivewood
- We are learning more every day about Olivewood Cemetery, the people who are buried in it, and the culture that created it. Please visit the History page to read more.
- View more photos on the Olivewood Cemetery Flickr page, or the Descendants of Olivewood Flickr page.



