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.
The search for the next general manager or president of basketball operations of the Dallas Mavericks has begun. They terminated Nico Harrison in November, which was about nine months too late, and gave any available candidates clear notice that they were open for business.
The plan was always to wait until after the season to start the search. While names popped up as the season reached an end, they didn’t begin turning over the staff until the Monday after the season ended. However, Dallas Mavericks fans are not going to like how the team is going about the search.
Patrick Dumont Leading Search for General Manager
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Mavericks are not hiring a search firm in their hunt for a new lead executive. Instead, team governor Patrick Dumont is “acting as his own point person.”
This is an… interesting decision, to say the least. Dumont is not a basketball person whatsoever, and most organizations usually hire a search firm. The Chicago Bulls hired one as they look for their replacement for Arturas Karnisovas. Just because a firm is hired doesn’t mean a team will listen, though.
The Mavericks hired a firm in their last search for a GM. They let Donnie Nelson go in 2021 after a long tenure with the Mavs. Instead of listening to the firm, though, Mark Cuban ignored it to hire Nico Harrison, who had no previous NBA front office experience. Harrison had been an executive with Nike, which gave him connections with players like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and plenty of others.
For a while, that seemed to be working out okay. While he still had some questionable transactions, such as trading for Christian Wood and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, they were still able to make a run to the NBA Finals in 2024. Then, he blew it all up, trading away Luka Doncic for an older and injured Anthony Davis, and the team hasn’t been the same since.
It’s imperative that the Mavericks get this hire correct. The interim Co-GM setup with Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley has performed admirably, but the 2026 NBA Draft is important for the Mavs to get right. It’s their best chance to pair Cooper Flagg with another young star, as they don’t own their first-round pick again until 2031 after this.
Hiring the right GM could help bring in more draft capital by bringing in bad contracts or flipping veterans into picks.
Dumont was able to convince Rick Welts, a Hall of Famer, to come out of retirement to be the CEO and lead the charge for a new arena. Maybe Dumont pulls another rabbit out of his hat for the GM.
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For a moment, it looked like FC Dallas was on its way to another statement win at home tonight.
Petar Musa scored two first half goals, to extend his Golden Boot leading tally to nine goals. But after Dallas grabbed control, the Galaxy found a way back before halftime with goals from Lucas Sanabria and Joseph Paintsil.
The second half brought more chances and more frustration for Dallas, which finished the night with 13 shots to LA’s nine. In the end, the point stretched Dallas’ unbeaten run to five games, though just like last week, it felt like another match where Dallas left points on the table.
Key Moments
7’ – GOAL! After a poor pass back by a LA defender, Petar Musa was free to go one-on-one with the LA goalkeeper. After a touch to get ahead of a defender, Musa slotted home his eighth goal of the season from outside the penalty box.
21’ – Offside! Joaquin Valiente sent a floating ball over the Galaxy defense, where Musa was able to get behind the defense and make an easy play for what appeared to be his second goal of the night. The play was called offside despite a fairly lengthy review period.
38’ – GOAL! This one counts! Musa gets his second of the night off a great ball from Chris Cappis. Logan Farrington picked off the ball in the midfield. He then played Cappis wide to the left of the penalty area. Cappis immediately played a ball back across the goal for Musa to slide in and finish for his ninth of the season.
43’ – Goal LA. Lucas Sanabria got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He took a couple of touches to get outside the penalty box before firing a shot that beat Michael Collodi at the near post.
45+4’ – Goal LA. Gabriel Pec got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He pulled the ball back a bit, which caught a pair of Dallas defenders. This allowed Joseph Painstil to get free behind the Dallas defense as Pec played him through inside the penalty area. Pec immediately smashed home a shot above Collodi to tie the game.
75’ – Another offside goal. This time on a corner kick for Dallas, after a scrum in the penalty box, Kaick hammered home what looked to be the go-ahead goal. But after a few seconds the flag was raised due to a deflection on Osaze Urhoghide, who was in an offside position.
Instant Reaction
Yeah, this is another disappointing result for this team. In a real way, it felt like the first half against Houston from last month. Dallas grabbed the lead, looked in control, but some defensive miscues opened the game up for the visitors to climb back.
With a double-game week coming up, this will certainly be another game where Dallas will wonder ‘what if’ more than anything else…especially when you factor in the two goals called off for offside.
About the Subs
Eric Quill went to his bench for the first time in the 66th minute, as he brought on Santiago Moreno for Logan Farrington. Quill went to his bench again 81st minute with Ran Binyamin and Nolan Norris coming on for Sebastien Ibeagha and Deedson. The final sub came during stoppage time with Herman Johansson and Joaquin Valiente coming off for Sam Sarver and rookie Nick Simmonds, who made his MLS debut.
Man of the Match
No question about it tonight, it has to be Musa.
Where does this fit into the season
As of this writing, the draw puts Dallas into a three-way tie for 5th place with Real Salt Lake and Seattle. Both are in action right now and look firmly in control of their games. I’d expect Dallas to be in 7th place by the end of the night.
What’s next for FC Dallas
Dallas wraps up a three-game homestand next Wednesday night as they host Minnesota United.
Dallas, TX
Akheem Mesidor selected by Cowboys by Blogging The Boys in SB Nation’s community mock draft
Akheem Mesidor, Edge, Miami
Pass rush has been an issue since the Micah Parsons trade. The Rashan Gary trade helped, but Dallas still needs an injection of talent. Akheem Mesidor fits here because his body size allows for some versatility inside and out, something DC Christian Parker utilizes. Mesidor is also a high-motor player with a deep bag of pass rush moves.
His last season at Miami was full of disruption in the offensive backfield and he shows an all-around game, not just a bend-around-the-edge pass rusher. Yes, he’s a little older than you’d like in a rookie (25), but his motor, pass rush toolbox, and ability to play the run matches up with a need and makes him a quality pick at number 20.
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