Dallas, TX
Cemetery for Dallas' Black pioneers finally gets historical marker, landmark designation
In a cemetery tucked away in Far North Dallas, surrounded on all sides by apartment buildings, a group of about 50 gathered in the chilly Saturday morning air.
They had come to see the unveiling of a State of Texas historical marker noting the significance of White Rock Cemetery Garden of Memories, a 173-year-old cemetery that serves as the final resting place for many of Dallas’ Black pioneers, some of whom were formerly enslaved. In addition to the historical marker, the site has recently received a Dallas landmark designation by the City Council, which ensures it will be preserved and protected far into the future.
Both the marker and the landmark designation are a long time coming, according to the local leaders who led the charge and the descendants of those buried in the cemetery. The designation will protect the site from any future real estate development, which has threatened it in the past.
As the sheet covering the marker was pulled away, one person in the crowd was especially emotional. Sheniqua Cummings, a Remembering Black Dallas and Preservation Dallas Board member, said she has been working on securing a historical marker and landmark designation since 2017, when she was assigned to the project by the late Dr. George Keaton Jr., founder of Remembering Black Dallas.
Cummings said she extensively researched the history of the families buried in the cemetery, which was accomplished through frequent trips to the library to read books on Dallas’ Black history, as well as conversing with Keaton, who had collected obituaries of those buried in the cemetery and contacts for their family members. She also drafted the language on the marker.
As she finally saw the fruits of all her labor, tears welled in her eyes as others in attendance embraced her with hugs. She said Keaton, who died in 2022, would’ve been thrilled to finally see the marker.
“I know he is looking down on us, and he is so filled and so happy that we finally got it done,” Cummings said.
Prior to the unveiling, several speakers, including local church leaders and public officials, spoke to the importance of preserving the cemetery, which they said is one of the oldest Black cemeteries in Texas and is possibly the first integrated cemetery in the state.
Dallas City Council member Jaynie Schultz, whose district includes the cemetery, said the space is the final resting place of many people with fascinating stories who had a huge hand in the initial development of North Dallas. She said the cemetery should be widely celebrated, and thanked the dedicated group of people who preserved the cemetery over the years.
“This was a place that needed to be protected and needed to be loved by more than just the few people at the time that were really pouring their hearts into it,” Schultz said. “It needs to be loved and acknowledged by our city, by our state, by everybody here in Dallas who gets the opportunity to come here.”
The landmark designation from the city will ease the worries of many with ties to the cemetery, as the site has previously been threatened by developments in the area. A 10-year court battle was launched after a large oil, cement and real estate conglomerate purchased adjacent land to the cemetery and padlocked the gate. The corporation said it was abandoned, despite family members making frequent visits to tend to their loved ones’ graves.
The cemetery is the final resting place for notable figures such as Anderson Bonner, who was born into slavery and later amassed over 2,000 acres of land. Other prominent names include George Coit and Henry Keller, who led the settling of a freedmen’s town in the Upper White Rock area by formerly enslaved people.
The site’s first burial was in 1852 and has since interred over 400 souls. As it was the only cemetery for Black people at the time, many early Black settlers were buried at the site.
Ancestors’ resting place
The ceremony was attended by many who have family members buried in the cemetery. Cummings herself has an ancestor, John Henry Peace, buried there.
Walter Anderson Bonner and his wife Audrey each have a large number of family members buried in the cemetery. Walter Bonner said he has roughly 30 to 40 family members buried there, including his sister and grandfather, while Audrey Bonner said she is descended from the Keller family, which also has a large number of family members buried there.
The Bonners live in Garland, but said they make the trip out to the cemetery a few times a year to visit the gravesites of their family members. They both expressed excitement over the marker and landmark designation, and said the next thing they hope can be added to the cemetery is a map to aid in finding the site, which is hidden in between several apartment complexes.
Nepha Love, 97, attended the ceremony along with several family members. She said all of her family is buried at the site, making it an important place to her and her family.
“I’m happy we finally got some nice recognition, because we’ve been waiting for this for a long, long time,” Love said.
Terrence Suber, a family member of Love’s, said he is glad the history will now be memorialized through the marker and protected thanks to the landmark designation.
“We’ve got to remember the history,” Suber said. “You can’t bury the history. History will live forever.”
Cummings said her work on securing the marker and landmark designation was supported by Schultz, the Dallas Parks and Recreation Board, the Dallas County and Texas Historical Commissions. Schultz said she grew up in North Dallas and never knew how important Black history was to the neighborhood.
After being elected to City Council, she was introduced to Cummings and learned about the cemetery and other important early contributions to North Dallas by Black people. She realized if she didn’t know about the history, then others wouldn’t either.
“We just knew we had to protect it,” Schultz said.
FIFA World Cup 2026 isn’t the only international competition in Dallas this summer. The Dallas International Piano Competition, hosted by the Dallas Chamber Symphony, will present its final round of competition on June 23 at Moody Performance Hall in the Dallas Arts District. The finals will feature three finalists, each playing a concerto with the Dallas Chamber Symphony.
The orchestra established its international instrument competitions in 2012, only one year after its founding. Every other year, the orchestra hosts a piano competition. Next year, the competition will feature violinists. The competition has grown significantly throughout the years.
“We had 172 applicants this year. So, that’s an increase. It continues to increase, especially since the pandemic. The events have really bounced back. It’s kind of going full steam ahead since things generally paused during the pandemic. We’ve got top-notch applicants,” said Richard McKay, Dallas Chamber Symphony’s Artistic and Music Director. “In all, we’re just really happy that the level of the competition continues to increase year after year.”
Mitch Lazorko Mitch Lazorko During the final round of the competition, three finalists will play a concerto with the Dallas Chamber Symphony.
Like the World Cup, the competitors are from around the world.
“I think we had applicants from roughly 20 different countries. And many of them already have a home base in the United States, even though they’re from elsewhere. So, maybe they have recently graduated from an American conservatory or currently enrolled and looking to start a career,” McKay said.
With the World Cup in town, this year’s Dallas International Piano Competition is a different experience for the pianists.
“FIFA has really been a complexifier this year for us, because we have all these people traveling to Dallas at the same time that everyone else is traveling to Dallas. They’re all needing to stay in Dallas at the same time everyone else is staying in Dallas. They’re going to experience busy traffic and events happening constantly so I’m sure their experience is quite a bit different from a normal year, but we’re making it through. We’ve got everyone lined up. we’ve got what they need to be successful during the competition places to stay and a great orchestra to perform with. So, all the hard work’s been done. Now it’s just time to make a great concert,” McKay said.
The competition began quarterfinals on June 18 at Murchison Performing Arts Center in Denton. The jury for the final round of the competition at Moody Performance Hall consists of James Giles, coordinator of the piano program and director of music performance graduate studies at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music; Elinor Freer, the Associate Professor of Piano and Chamber Music at the Eastman School of Music; and Alexandre Moutouzkine, the co-head of the piano department at Manhattan School of Music. The audience will have a say as well when they get to vote for an audience favorite.
“They love voting on the Audience Choice Award. That’s for sure. People love that. It’s always interesting to see if there’s a difference between what the jury selects for the top prize, and who the audience selects for the top prize. Sometimes there’s agreement, sometimes there’s not. So, it’s always fun to watch and see,” McKay said.
With two intermissions, the final round of the competition has a different atmosphere to the orchestra’s other concerts.
“There’s a long intermission in between each concerto. So, people are up and about talking a lot more and they’re getting drinks more. And this just makes the event feel more relaxed and fun. It’s more conversational all night long,” McKay said.
Preparing for the final round of competition is a different process for the orchestra.
“They have to learn about 12 different concertos, because that’s what’s in play at the start of the competition. And then as the results come in for the competition, we start narrowing down the three concertos that will be performed at the concert. So, we’re sending out messages to our orchestra, letting them know, which ones they don’t have to practice any longer. They will find out the results of semifinals on Friday afternoon so they’ll have the weekend to focus on the actual three that they will end up performing. And then rehearsals on that start on Monday,” McKay said.
Mitch Lazorko
Mitch Lazorko Adam Jackson was the top prize winner at the Dallas International Piano Competition in 2024.
Jim Stopher will guest-conduct the final round, with McKay, a trained pianist, sitting in the audience knowing what those competitors are experiencing.
“As someone who’s played in competitions before, I think the best thing you can possibly do is play your music as you intend and just as intentionally as you possibly can,” McKay said. “It’s very easy when performing in a competition, to adjust or to conform to your idea of what you think will help you be most successful in one venue or arena, as opposed to just maximizing what you do well and what really fits you. Each person’s going to know best how they best make music and how they can most successfully perform very well and I would advise they all do that because it’s a comfort you feel afterwards, having done what it is you intended to do in the way that you intended to do it, even if the chips don’t quite fall the right way for you, it’s hard to regret doing that. It’s hard to have any regrets when you did the best you could and you did your job as well as you knew how and exactly as you want it to. That always feels good.”
Learn more: Dallas Chamber Symphony
Drivers both human and autonomous across the North Texas region experienced heavy flooding, with several becoming trapped along roadways that had filled with several inches of rainwater. FOX 4’s Shaun Rabb has more on the waterlogged morning.
Dallas Parks and Recreation will distribute 25,000 all-access passes that give Dallas teens free admission to cultural and recreational attractions across the city throughout July.
Passes will be available beginning June 29 on a first-come, first-served basis at City of Dallas recreation centers.
The program, now entering its fifth year, is open to Dallas residents ages 13 to 17. City leaders say the initiative, which launched in 2021, helps promote positive engagement opportunities for teens and reduce crime during the summer months.
Teens must register in person and provide proof of Dallas residency to receive a pass.
The city says the program is made possible through partnerships with local cultural, recreational, and entertainment organizations.
Participating attractions include:
- African American Museum
- Bahama Beach
- Bath House Cultural Center
- Latino Cultural Center
- South Dallas Cultural Center
- Oak Cliff Cultural Center
- Dallas Museum of Arts
- Community Art Pop Up Cultural
- Dallas Arboretum
- Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum
- Dallas Park and Recreation Summer Fitness
- Dallas Zoo
- Frontiers of Flight Museum
- Golf Dallas
- Reunion Tower
- Shakespeare of Dallas
- State Fair of Texas
- Southern Skates Roller Rink
- Texas Discover Garden
- The Sixth Floor Museum At Dealey Plaza
- Trinity River Audubon
A full list of participating attractions and recreation centers distributing passes is available at DallasParks.org
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