To Care For The Sick Bury The Dead [CLOTH ]

Benevolent Orders, the Sons of Ham, Prince Hall Freemasons—these and other African American lodges created a social safety net for members across Tennessee. During their heyday between 1865 and 1930, these groups provided members with numerous resources, such as sick benefits and assurance of a proper burial, opportunities for socialization and leadership, and the chance to work with local churches and schools to create better communities. Many of these groups gradually faded from existence, but their legacy endures in the form of the cemeteries the lodges left behind.

These Black cemeteries dot the Tennessee landscape, but few know their history or the societies of care they represent.To Care for the Sick and Bury the Deadis the first book-length look at these cemeteries and the lodges that fostered them.

This book is a must-have for genealogists, historians, and family members of the people buried in these cemeteries.A history of Tennessee's African American lodges and their cemeteriesLeigh Ann Gardneris a grants manager at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She also works in historic preservation.A large “For Sale” sign, noting the site’s “great potential,” sits at the edge of a seemingly empty, large lot consisting of slightly over thirty-seven acres in southwest Memphis. Small trees and bushes located at the edge of the property along the road obscure the view, as does a short concrete fence. The real estate listing notes the great price for the parcel, offered for sale at $125,000, and notes its potential development uses: “residential, church, and park.” The listing has its present usage as “none/vacant” and notes that there are no improvements on the property. It is zoned for single family or commercial usage.

The lot is located on a four-lane road, with a state highway roughly a third of a mile away. To judge by the nearby church congregations, lƒ8