Buried Truths: How Cemeteries Reveal America’s History of Segregation

“Just as the United States before the Civil War and after was a segregated place, so too was the city of the dead,” Smith said, noting how cemeteries have long reflected societal inequalities.

But Smith also emphasized that cemeteries don’t just tell a story of separation—they show the ways people worked to create change. He focused on Moses Dickson, who played a key role in promoting social uplift and reshaping how African Americans are remembered, even in burial practices seen today.

Dickson, a lifelong abolitionist, fought for African American education, engaged in political activism, and helped build lasting institutions. Among his many accomplishments, Smith noted, he founded the Order of the Knights and Daughters of Tabor and supported the founding of Lincoln University, a historically Black college.

Smith explained that Dickson believed in building “parallel institutions” for African Americans, places like cemeteries that offered dignity, legacy, and space to preserve their history beyond death.

Although Dickson began his career as a barber on a steamboat, his philosophy was rooted in the ideals of self-improvement and social elevation, similar to those of Booker T. Washington.

“We’re going to educate African Americans… create our parallel institutions, and at some point, we will become so respectable that white folks are going to accept us,” Smith quoted Dickson.

Still, Smith noted, even after the Civil War and emancipation, segregation continued in cemeteries. The graves of those once enslaved were often marked only with a first name and the phrase, “good and faithful servant,” repeating the message that “the contours of servitude continue even in death.”

Through his studies, Smith found that cemeteries offer a deeper context to our understanding of history, often telling stories not found in written documents. He shared that burial sites hold collective memory and can reveal much about cultural practices, segregation, and the social structures of their time.

“Cemeteries and burial places are markers of how we remember ourselves, how we understand our collective history,” he said.

Today, many of these burial grounds are preserved as historic landmarks—offering evidence of African American life and the long struggle toward equality.

For Moses Dickson, his grave represents more than a final resting place. According to Smith, it serves as a lasting document of his life and time. “It stands as a historic site, a document of another period,” Smith concluded.