Oakland Cemetery

Established in 1847, Oakland Cemetery is Shreveport's oldest public burial ground and is also considered Shreveport’s oldest park. It was placed on the National Historic Register in 1977 and provides a fascinating record of the early history of this often lawless river city. Many of the city’s pioneers lie within its gates. From paupers to business tycoons, people from all walks of life are represented in Oakland. Politicians, philanthropists, and business leaders rest near lawmen, soldiers, and madams to form a “who’s who” of early Shreveport. For those interested in Shreveport's history, there’s no better place to find it than within the walls of Oakland Cemetery. 

Incorporated in 1839, Shreveport, originally called Shreve Town, was a frontier city. For a short time, before the statehood of Texas in 1845, Shreveport sat on the far western border of the United States. As such, the city was no stranger to the stereotypical vices that come with life on the frontier. Crime, gambling, and prostitution were all prevalent. Life was hard, and death often came quickly by way of violence or disease. Yet, the early settlers of Shreveport overcame adversity, shaping Shreveport into a thriving city built initially on cotton processing. The stories attached to the headstones in this cemetery tell the tales of tragedy and triumph, struggle, and success.

Oakland Cemetery began its life in 1847 with a decree by Mayor Lawrence Pike Crain that declared all people buried in Shreveport must be buried within the new city cemetery. This city cemetery was renamed “Oakland Cemetery” in 1905 when the moniker was first used in print. Ten acres of land were purchased from Mary Cane, often called the “Mother of Shreveport,” to create the city cemetery. The mayoral decree called for three sections to be laid out within the cemetery: a potter’s field, a section for mayors and trustees, and one for private individuals. In 1859, the Hebrew Mutual Benevolent Association purchased one acre in the northeast corner, now known as Hebrew Rest. Simon Marks was the first person buried in this section just six days after the purchase. Hebrew Rest is the final resting place for approximately 300 members of Shreveport’s pioneer Jewish families, with 151 existing stones. Many private plots outside of Hebrew Rest belong to early Shreveport families, with several of Shreveport’s prominent residents buried in the eastern section. Today, Hebrew Rest still occupies the northeast corner, while the Odd Fellows and Masonic section is in the northwest corner, and the southwest corner is the site of the old potter’s field. Recently, a new monument dedicated to the victims of the 1873 Yellow Fever Epidemic was erected in the cemetery's southwest corner, on the location of a mass grave believed to contain the bodies of approximately 800 victims of the mosquito-borne disease.

In addition to the approximately 800 yellow fever victims, another 5,000 to 6,000 of Shreveport’s residents are buried within Oakland, including an estimated 1,500 in unmarked graves. Rufus Sewell, brother of Shreveport’s first mayor, John O. Sewall, is believed to be the first person buried in the new city cemetery. As a testament to the environment of early Shreveport, both John and Rufus were killed in separate duels. Oakland is also the final resting place for at least sixteen mayors and possibly three additional mayors who may be buried in unmarked graves. Also buried in this cemetery are a chief justice and several associate justices of the State Supreme Court, as well as many sheriffs and politicians, including senators, representatives, and an ambassador. Veterans, particularly those who served the Confederacy during the Civil War, are numerous. One veteran, Lieutenant Eugene Augustus Woodruff of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, holds a special place in the heart of Shreveport historians. Assigned to Shreveport during Reconstruction, when federal soldiers were highly unpopular in the South, Lieutenant Woodruff was well respected. He is remembered more than a century after he died for his heroic acts during the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1873. Although he was ordered to leave Shreveport, Lieutenant Woodruff chose to stay in the city to help the sick and dying. This brave act of compassion and defiance cost him his life when, at the age of thirty, he also fell victim to the devasting disease.

Each headstone has a story, and all deserve to be told. Some burials of note include Albert Harris Leonard, founder of The Shreveport Times, who died in 1917; Sheriff Alexander Sterrit, whose wife was the sister of frontiersman Jim Bowie of Alamo fame; and Shreveport’s famous madam Annie McCune. Some of those buried in Oakland have special ties to the cemetery itself. Mayor Lawrence Pike Crain, whose decree is responsible for creating Oakland, is buried within these walls, as is Mary Bennett Cane, the first white woman to settle in Shreveport, on whose land the cemetery sits. Many of the headstones in Oakland are hand-carved and include the carver's name. William Kinney was one such carver. In 1906, he was buried in Oakland, where much of his work contributes to the cemetery's beauty.

Oakland Cemetery is the final resting place for Shreveport’s white and Black residents. The first African-American cemetery, Star (add link), was not established until 1883. Notable burials of African Americans in Oakland include Dr. Dickerson Alphonse Smith, the first African American doctor in Shreveport, and his mother Amanda Clark, a formerly enslaved woman turned philanthropist, who used her inheritance from her former owner’s will to help the less fortunate of Shreveport. Also of interest are Dr. E. E. Allen and Alfred Legardy. Although they died over a century apart, both played significant roles in the history of Shreveport. Legardy, who died in 1897, was the first Black councilman in Shreveport, while Dr. Allen, who died in 1999, was the first Black dentist to be accepted into the local American Dental Association and the first Black man since Reconstruction elected to office in Caddo Parish.

Oakland has not been immune to the passage of time. Both weather and intentional vandalism have taken their toll. As newer cemeteries, such as Greenwood, opened in 1893, and Forest Park, established in 1919, became fashionable, some families removed loved ones from Oakland for reinternment elsewhere. In 1907, Mayor E. R. Bernstein ordered the bodies of African Americans to be removed to allow for a straight road to be built into the cemetery. In his farewell message in The Shreveport Times, he stated that “bodies have been removed from the Oakland cemetery [sic] to the ‘Star’ cemetery for colored under a satisfactory understanding.”[1] Although the city was still selling family plots in the 1930s, overcrowding had been an issue since before the creation of Greenwood Cemetery. Today, burials in Oakland are extremely rare. The most recent occurred in 2011, with special permission granted by the city. This exception was made for the grave of Eric Brock, a historian whose research, extensive writings, and conservation efforts have proved invaluable in the preservation of Oakland Cemetery and the history of Shreveport.

[1] “Farewell Message of Mayor Bernstein,” The Shreveport Times, November 17, 1908.

"Backers See Oakland as Attraction for Visitors: A Burial Ground of Shreveport History." The Shreveport Times (Shreveport) September 12th, 1993. , 8 sec.8.

Brock, Eric. National Register of Historic Places Sites and Districts in Shreveport, Louisiana. Metropolitan Planning Commission, June, 1993.

Brock, Eric. "The Presence of the Past: Shreveport, as the Westernmost Frontier Town, Has Violent Crime in its Early Days, Too.." The Shreveport Times (Shreveport) September 25th, 1993. , B sec.15.

Brock, Eric. Shreveport Chronicles: Profiles from Louisiana's Port City. Edition e-book. Charleston, SC. The History Press, 2013.

"Farewell Message of Mayor Bernstein." The Shreveport Times (Shreveport) November 17th, 1908. .3.

Joiner, Gary D.. Prime, John Andrew. Legendary Locals of Shreveport. Charleston, SC. Arcadia Publishing, 2016.

Joiner, Gary D. . Roberson, Ernie. Lost Shreveport: Vanishing Scenes from the Red River Valley. Edition e-book. Charleston, SC. The History Press, 2011.

Joiner, Ph.D., Gary D.. White, Ph.D., Cheryl . Shreveport's Historic Oakland Cemetery: Spirits of Pioneers and Heroes. Charleston, SC. The History Press, 2015.

Shreveport, City of. City Council Minutes. March 30, 1847. Northwest Louisiana Archives and Special Collections (From Oakland Cemetery Timeline).

"Shreveport's First Mayor, Rufus Sewall, Was Killed in a Duel." The Shreveport Times (Shreveport) June 28th, 1935. .