Richland Cemetery Leaders of the Past

For more than a century, nestled on a hill near the intersections of Stone Avenue and Laurens Road, Richland Cemetery has been the resting place of some of Greenville’s most influential and prominent African Americans.

Recently, Greenville City Council took the first steps to beef-up maintenance of one of its valuable, historical resources — Richland Cemetery. By the creation of Friends of Richland Cemetery, a non-profit support group, citizens will attempt to address maintenance and beautification issues by raising funds for additional capital improvements, as well as raising awareness and preserving the historical significance of the cemetery.

If you are interested in serving on the Friends of Richland Cemetery support group, please contact the City Clerk’s Office, City of Greenville, at 864-467-4350.

Several of Greenville’s most prominent citizens are interred at Richland Cemetery. These people made significant contributions to the Greenville community during their life time. The legacy of their contributions continues today.

Anna M. Richardson: Sterling High School Teacher of English, affectionately known as Ma Richardson
Cora Kilgore Chapman: First African American Registered Nurse; first African American superintendent of Greenville Hospital
Dr. Oswald M. Thompson: one of Greenville’s first African American Dentists, who received his Dental Surgery Degree in 1905
Elias B. Holloway: appointed principal of then Union School (West End School); and First African American mail carrier; Writer for Greenville News
Emma Clark: owner and manager of Broadway Beauty Shop, the oldest and one of the First African American beauty parlors in the Greenville
Florence L. Lykes: Sterling High School Teacher of Social Studies
Harriet Elizabeth Williams: graduate of Sterling High School; first African American female in Greenville County female to receive a Master’s Degree (Atlanta University) in Pure mathematics
Hattie E. Williams: One of the first Trustees of Allen Temple AME Church
Hattie Logan Duckett: founder of Phillis Wheatley Center; elementary school named in her honor (Hattie Duckett Elementary School, now Fine Arts Center)
J. Pickens Pick Chappell: Trustee of Sterling High School, Trustee of Workingman’s Savings & Loan (African American Bank)
Jesse L. Bates: Sterling High School Teacher of Science and Mathematics
Lida Logan Williams: One of Greenville’s first African American Registered Nurses
Lila Lomax Sewell: First African American school supervisor; Piano teacher
Mary Moone Calhoun
Masselena Vivian Lawrence Bowen: Teacher in Greenville County Schools for 50 years; 40 of these years at Allen City School, teaching seventh grade
William R. Sewell: First African American licensed building contractor – constructed Sterling High and SC Franks Funeral Home (former location on Anderson Road)