Humble, Texas Cemeteries In Black And White.
Two Graveyards, Racial Divide, And The Terrible Thing They Did To A Young Boy's Skull
(39 Images)
There were not always two cemeteries in the town of Humble, Texas.
Many years ago everyone used the main cemetery shown in the images below.
Until the town officially incorporated in 1933 and passed a law to make the town "lily white", then forced all black families to not only move out of town, but to dig up their deceased and take the bodies with them.
Of course times change and today the city population is much more diverse.
The Humble Cemetery is no stunning affair, but it is maintained, the lawns trimmed, the trash picked up.
Unlike the other cemetery and the terrible happenings that went on there.
Across town the old Humble Negro Cemetery still lies in a thicket of woods near the railroad tracks.
Though times change the local political scene and the Humble Cemetery remain almost "lily white".
Of course the city takes care of their graveyard also.
Enjoy these peaceful images of the main Humble Cemetery.
But be sure to compare these pictures to the images of the Humble Negro Cemetery, as it is still called, and the gruesome tale of the grave robbery and desecration where a young boy's skull was stolen that follow after these.
As you walk around the cemetery you see that regardless of race their was a high infant mortality rate here years ago.
Many of the tombstones are marked 1918 and 1919 as the influenza virus swept through and took lives at this time.
Reaching this cemetery is not nearly as easy. Rather than parking on the street and walking across the sidewalk you must park far away in retail shopping centers, climb over the railroad track embankment, and make your way through thick scrub and across ditches.
No welcoming gate left slightly open.
These signs were probably placed here by a local church that is now attempting to maintain the property.
A short while before the desecration this was simply overgrown and almost impossible to find, yet still a popular creepy hangout for some teens, particularly at Halloween.
Poor little Willie Simms.
Dead at age 11, after decades in the ground several local young men actually dug the boy's body up, stole his skull, and in the ultimate act of inhumanity and stupidity turned it into a bong to smoke marijuana.
They have been prosecuted but the skull was never returned.
You soon realize that every grave in this cemetery is in worse condition than any grave in the main cemetery.
Railroad spikes indicate that people still visit the cemetery.
Now many people are wondering why one cemetery is so well maintained with city crews and supplies, while the other still languishes in the woods, decrepit and vandalized.
It is said that if you call the cities of Humble and Houston you are sent in a circle of confusion as to who even owns the land.
The only reason the cemetery is here is because a local businessman named Mr. Bender employed many black families and when Humble evicted them from their lives and even their graves, he let them live near here and bury their dead on his land.
Surely in less than a hundred years every record of ownership has not vanished?
Meanwhile the church's efforts have improved the area but there remains a lot of work, and a need to make this sacred ground available to the public.
As surely as the sacrilege of the grave robbers, this entire situation just does not feel right.
Stones still lie in pieces.
Many graves go unmarked.
Pine straw thickens.
Markers break, pieces vanish, memories fade.
Even military veteran's service to their country has gone unhonored!
The sun is literally setting on this little piece of history, a history of treating others badly.
What do you think?
Is letting this cemetery sit and rot away as bad as the sacrilege to the poor boy's body?
Is it not just a continuation of the same disrespectful treatment?
Could this property not be deeded over to a local church for maintenance and future use?
Sources 1, 2, 3
City of Humble, Texas
