Importance of the Cemetery Before discussing how the spatial design and use of Evergreen Cemetery was reflective of African-Americans’ current, and hoped for, place within society, the place of the cemetery within African-American communities of the South needs to be established. African-Americans focused on death to such a degree that Booker T. Washington lamented, “The trouble with us is that we are always preparing to die.” (Cited in Roediger 1981:63). The
Importance of the Cemetery Before discussing how the spatial design and use of Evergreen Cemetery was reflective of African-Americans’ current, and hoped for, place within society, the place of the cemetery within African-American communities of the South needs to be established. African-Americans focused on death to such a degree that Booker T. Washington lamented, “The trouble with us is that we are always preparing to die.” (Cited in Roediger 1981:63). The