Aug. 22, 2024

An effort to revitalize historic Dallas cemeteries is gaining ground.

Back in 2019, a group of volunteers transformed the Warren Ferris Cemetery in North Dallas, from an overgrown and neglected burial ground of Dallas’ founders into a refuge for both humans and wildlife. 

Now five other historic Dallas cemeteries are getting makeovers with help from the group. 

After their success with Warren Ferris Cemetery, founders of the Friends group quickly realized they’d created a new model for historic cemeteries that both honored the dead and created green space for the living.

So last year they launched a program called Constellation of Living Memorials, envisioning taking on similar cemeteries in the area and throughout the state. 

Friends of Warren Ferris Cemetery founder Julie Ann Fineman says that the group is almost halfway through a two-year pilot project to discover the feasibility of adapting the Warren Ferris model for other historic cemeteries. The program has been met with so much enthusiasm that she says the organization needs a sturdier infrastructure to sustain demand.

“This program is actually a little too big for a mom-and-pop 501(C)(3),” she says. “We're looking for a large nonprofit that can be our mothership, and we have initiated talks.” 

Julie Fineman, Friends of Warren Ferris Cemetery founder, displays a map of historic cemeteries in Texas, which she hopes can be transformed into a network of rewilded spaces. Courtesy of Constellation of Living Memorials. 

Fineman says a much larger and established organization is needed to handle the planning, resource development and funding of what has proved itself to be a monumental task of environmental and cultural restoration for pockets of land within the city. To expand the work throughout the estimated 15,000 neglected cemeteries in the state, the organization will need leadership with border-to-border scope. 

“There's 15,000 historic cemeteries, believe it or not, in Texas. And the reason that that number is so large is that every year that ticks by, what constitutes a historic cemetery grows when a cemetery hits the age of 50,” Fineman explains. 

Fineman says that many of these cemeteries have become nearly forgotten plots of land buried under privet and invasive species, left alone, minimally maintained if at all and gated off from the communities that surround them.  

BRANCHING OUT

Following the success of transforming Warren Ferris Cemetery into a place where neighbors stroll and wildlife thrives, the Constellation of Living Memorials program took on five additional cemeteries in Dallas. 

Currently, volunteers at the five worksites are in various stages of clearing invasive plant species and taming overgrowth while reintroducing appropriate native species to the cemeteries and rebuilding amenities for human comfort.  

Legendary outlaw Clyde Barrow is buried at Western Heights Cemetery in Dallas. Courtesy of Find a Grave.

Western Heights Cemetery, located at 1617 Fort Worth Avenue, west of Downtown Dallas, stands out among the projects.

The three-acre cemetery, which dates back to the 1850s, is known to history buffs as the burial site of the famous outlaw Clyde Barrow and his brother Marvin Barrow.

Already, more than 800 volunteer hours have been clocked in the restoration effort, Fineman estimates. 

“There has been a lot of tree trimming, branch hauling in the beginning and several days of removing low-hanging branches,” Fineman says. "Nothing was happening at Western Heights Cemetery nine months ago, except for the typical mow and blow a couple times a year. I met Katherine Homan, who is the president of the Fort Worth Avenue Development Group who oversees the maintenance of that cemetery, and I shared with her and the board members what the Constellation of Living Memorials project was all about, and they said that they wanted in.” 

Work began soon after the board signed on. After hours of weed trimming, moving more than 450 wheelbarrow loads of wood chips, and planning community events, lead volunteer Van Johnson brought on a team of additional volunteers to assist with a variety of tasks.  

Volunteers have mapped and photographed headstones, conducted genealogical research and created a landscape plan to turn Western Heights Cemetery into a neighborhood park. Courtesy of Constellation of Living Memorials.

In addition, Dallas College professor Victoria Clow is creating a Western Heights archeology study for other professors to use in their outdoor curriculums that include genealogical research, headstone cleaning and inspiring interest among residents in nearby neighborhoods. 

“That speaks to the other equation of the Constellation of Living Memorials. It doesn't just focus on the natural history, but also the cultural history [of each cemetery],” Fineman says. 

Although the renewal effort is not yet complete, Western Heights Cemetery has already served as the location of a Veterans and Memorial Day ceremony, an Oak Cliff Earth Day native plant sale, an Oak Cliff history day in partnership with Preservation Dallas, and as a solar eclipse watching destination, with additional school tours and cultural events in the works. 

PILOT GRANT

Western Heights Cemetery. Courtesy of Constellation of Living Memorials.

The Constellation of Living Memorials pilot project has received a $30,000 grant from the Texas Historical Foundation, which will be apportioned equally to each of the six total cemeteries with a matching grant that will offer each site a $10,000 allotment for their costs. 

Besides Warren Ferris and Western Heights, the four other cemeteries in the program are Oakland Cemetery in Southeast Dallas, Beeman Memorial Cemetary in South Dallas, Albert Carver Cemetery in Southeast Dallas, and W. W. Glover Cemetery in Southeast Dallas. 

Fineman says that although the pilot study efforts mimic what was accomplished at the Warren Ferris Cemetery, each site is assessed individually so that plant species and ecological goals match the site’s specific natural characteristics. 

PROGRESS

Altogether, volunteers have brought about improvements to the Western Heights cemetery, with a growing list of contributed work that has so far included: 

 • Chris Freeman of Lina T. Ramsey & Associates along with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle pilots Michael Ash and Mason Smith of SmartDrone are compiling a topographical survey with one-foot contour lines, which will be used in designing native landscape restoration. 

 • Pat Baldassaro, principal at PJB Surveyors, is conducting historical research on the property.  

 • Dan Kieninger of Texas Cemetery Restoration LLC is mapping and photographing every headstone, and transcribing all genealogical inscriptions into a database, and tagging the headstones with their GPS location, while using ground-penetrating radar to locate unmarked graves. 

• Blount Designs is creating a landscape plan with an ADA entrance, lighting, a paved trail, an emergency call box, informational signage and seating. 

• Volunteers Steve and Patti Erickson are transcribing and photographing every headstone at the site along with epitaphs, creating a consolidated database from four sources, and rediscovering hidden grave markers. They’re also conducting extensive genealogy work to connect many of the families related to those buried within the cemetery. The two are also creating online resources for Western Heights Cemetery so that others can collaborate on further research. 

FILLING A NATURE GAP

Fineman says she feels that the rapid adoption of the Constellation of Living Memorials vision for lost cemeteries comes from a general longing for authenticity in a world that’s becoming more urban and human centric by the hour. 

The result of each cemetery project is a pocket of natural terrain that welcomes birds, bees, butterflies, squirrels, armadillos and other wildlife to share with people a green sanctuary in the midst of the city. 

"Urbanization has caused extreme nature deficit disorder,” she remarks. “I think because we are part of nature and we are so disconnected from nature that our souls know this and they're craving this sort of reuniting.” 

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