Woodmere Cemetery: Difference between revisions

'''Woodmere Cemetery''' is located at West Fort Street and Woodmere Avenue in the southwest section of [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]], in the neighborhood of [[Springwells Village]] in what was originally the township of Springwells.<ref>{{cite book |last=Woodmere Cemetery Association |title=Rules and Regulations of Woodmere Cemetery Association |year=1888 |location=Detroit, Michigan |page=5}}</ref> Woodmere Cemetery is currently operated by the [Midwest Memorial Group.<ref>{{cite web |title=Midwest Memorial Group |url=http://midwestmemorialgroup.com/ Midwest|website=midwestmemorialgroup Memorial|access-date=January Group].25, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

The Woodmere Cemetery Association was organized on July 8, 1867, by a group of prominent Detroit businessmen who purchased approximately 250 acres to establish a [[rural cemetery]] for the city of Detroit.<ref>{{cite book | title=Detroit's Woodmere Cemetery | publisher=Arcadia Publishing | authorlast=Hershenzon, |first=Gail D. | year=2006 | page=7 | isbn=9780738541204978-0738541204}}</ref> TheWoodmere's layout for Woodmere was designed by [[Adolph Strauch]], who also designed [[Spring Grove Cemetery]] in [[Cincinnati]], [[Ohio]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Woodmere Cemetery Association |title=Rules and Regulations of Woodmere Cemetery Association |year=1888 |location=Detroit, Michigan|page=6}}</ref> Construction began in 1868 and the [[Cemetery|cemetery]] was dedicated on July 14, 1869.<ref>{{cite book |last=Farmer |first=Silas |title=The History of Detroit and Michigan |url=https://archive.org/details/historydetroita00farmgoog |year=1889 |publisher=Silas Farmer & Co. |location=Detroit |page=57 |edition=Second}}</ref>

The first burials occurred prior to the cemetery's official opening of the cemetery. The first burial was for Anna Maria Schwartz, who was buried in Section C in November 1868.<ref>{{cite book | title=Detroit's Woodmere Cemetery | publisher=Arcadia Publishing | authorlast=Hershenzon, |first=Gail D. | year=2006 | pagespage=8 | isbn=9780738541204978-0738541204}}</ref> She was soon joined by approximately 2,000 removals from Detroit's City Cemetery that were reburied at Woodmere.<ref>{{cite book |last=Farmer |first=Silas |title=The History of Detroit and Michigan |url=https://archive.org/details/historydetroita00farmgoog |year=1889 |publisher=Silas Farmer & Co. |location=Detroit |page=57 |edition=Second}}</ref> In addition to these burials, the city of Detroit also contracted for approximately five acres for the burial of the city's poor.<ref>{{cite book |last=Farmer |first=Silas |title=The History of Detroit and Michigan |url=https://archive.org/details/historydetroita00farmgoog |year=1889 |publisher=Silas Farmer & Co. |location=Detroit |page=57 |edition=Second}}</ref> Section C is the cemetery's oldest section and where the large Elks' Rest monument can be found. Once Section C was filled, Woodmere ended its contract with the city to bury the city's poor.<ref>{{cite book |title=Detroit's Woodmere Cemetery |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |last=Hershenzon |first=Gail D. |year=2006 |page=38 |isbn=978-0738541204}}</ref>

== Notable Sectionssections ==

[[File:19th U.S. Infantry monument.jpg|thumb|right|19th U.S. Infantry monument at Woodmere cemetery]]The [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] section is at the cemetery's southern end of the cemetery, adjacentnext to Dearborn AvenueStreet. ThisThe section wasarmy purchased bythis thesection U.S. Army andwhich contains Veterans[[veteran]]s from the [[Civil War (United States)|Civil War]] as well as [[World War II]]. In 1896 the Civil War soldiers buried at [[Fort Wayne (Detroit)|Fort Wayne]] were moved to Woodmere as the cemetery there had fallen to decay and the records were in shambles.<ref>{{cite book | title=Detroit's Woodmere Cemetery | publisher=Arcadia Publishing | authorlast=Hershenzon, |first=Gail D. | year=2006 | pagespage=96 | isbn=9780738541204978-0738541204}}</ref> The [[Flagpole|flagpole]] in this section divides the [[Grand Army of the Republic]] section onto the lefteast from the U.S. Army section onto the rightwest.

[[Temple Beth El (Detroit, Michigan)|Temple Beth El ]] purchased two sections at Woodmere, Section Beth El and part of the adjacent Section NNF. Many of the [[Mausoleum|mausoleumsmausoleum]]s in Section NNF were vandalized in December 2012. The copperbronze doors were removed, leaving the mausoleums open to the elements. These doors were presumably sold for scrap.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Robin |title=Scrappers target historic Detroit cemetery |url=http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/20297018/scrappers-target-historic-detroit-cemetary |work=Fox 2 News |accessdateaccess-date=2 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424012151/http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/20297018/scrappers-target-historic-detroit-cemetary |archive-date=24 April 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [http://www.masjiddearborn.org/ [American Moslem Society]] purchased a section aat tthethe northwest corner of the cemetery within view of theirits [[Mosque|mosque]] on Vernor Highway. This mosque was established in 1937 and it is theMichigan's oldest mosque in Michigan. <ref>{{cite web |title=AMS History |url=http://www.masjiddearborn.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56&Itemid=69 |workwebsite=American Moslem Society |accessdateaccess-date=2 April 2013}}</ref>

Victims of the [[Ford Hunger March]] killed on March 7, 1932, are buried in the Ferndale section at the cemetery's north end of the cemetery adjacent toabutting Vernor Highway. The victims are Joseph York, Joseph Bussell, Kalman Leny, and Joseph DeBascio. The [[United Auto Workers]] also placed a headstone on an empty space in the same row as the others for Curtis Williams, a marcher who died several months later due to unrelated causes. Williams was [[Cremated|cremated]] at Woodmere, but his ashes were not interred there.<ref>{{cite book | title=Detroit's Woodmere Cemetery | publisher=Arcadia Publishing | authorlast=Hershenzon, |first=Gail D. | year=2006 | pagespage=63 | isbn=9780738541204978-0738541204}}</ref> A marker is located along the fence outside of the cemetery near these graves.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}