Preserving Lee County’s Story…
African American cemeteries in the Arkansas Delta hold great historical significance, especially in Lee County. Freedmen played an important role in the development of the county that was established during Reconstruction in 1873. Many former bondsmen and women migrated to Arkansas to cultivate the land for agriculture following emancipation. A large number of these families became landowners through homesteading and land purchases early in the county’s existence. All-Black settlements developed all over the county.
Settlements established by freedmen after the Civil War have been given several names: freedmen’s towns or settlements, freedmen’s villages, Negro towns, Race towns, Black towns, and freedmen colonies. Historian Donna L. Shelton has uncovered evidence of at least 10 freedom settlements in Lee County: Thomasville, New Hope, Freedonia, Mt. Moriah, Garrett Grove, Springfield, St. Paul, Mt. Cannon, Mt. Kingdom, and Dansby, the birthplace of soul and gospel singer Al Green. In these rural villages, freedmen and their descendants established businesses, schools, churches, and more. In most instances, African American cemeteries are the last remaining tangible evidence that these settlements and other Black communities ever existed. Safeguarding these historic sites ensures that the rich history of early Arkansas communities is preserved and shared for future generations.
