Evergreen Cemetery (Oakland, California)

Evergreen Cemetery

Evergreen Cemetery is a cemetery, crematorium and mausoleum located in Oakland, California, near the Eastmont Town Center and Mills College. The cemetery was established in 1903 and is located on a small hill, with a large combined mausoleum, crematorium and chapel at the top of the hill.^[1] It is the second largest cemetery in Oakland, after the Mountain View Cemetery and Saint Mary Cemetery complex. It is full, and closed to new interments, but still operates a crematorium.

Jonestown memorial

Memorial plaques to the Jonestown mass killing victims

More than 400 unclaimed bodies of the Jonestown mass suicide are buried at Evergreen.^[2][3] In 2011, four additional memorial plaques were placed at the site with the names of all 918 people who died in the incident. The new memorial controversially includes the name of Jim Jones, the leader who ordered the mass suicide. The organizers intended the memorial to be "for historical purposes, listing everyone who died there," including the news reporters and Rep. Leo Ryan.^[4][5]

Notable interments

Hells Angels gravesite at Evergreen

Various notable people are buried at Evergreen:

• C. L. Best (1878–1951), son of Daniel Best, Caterpillar Tractor Company executive
• Daniel Best (1838–1923), adventurer and inventor
• Park Van Tassel (1853–1930), aerial exhibitionist, balloonist, skydiver
• Otto G. Foelker (1875–1943), U.S. Representative from New York^[6]
• Jesse Fuller (1896–1976), one man band musician^[7]
• Earl "Fatha" Hines (1905–1983), early jazz pianist^[8]
• Allen Hoskins (1920–1980), child actor who portrayed Farina in the Our Gang short movies from the 1920s^[9]
• Henry Kulky (1911–1965), American actor and professional wrestler noted for Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
• Huey P. Newton (1942–1989), African-American political activist, co-founder of the Black Panther Party
• Irish O'Farrell (1949–1989),^[10] Hells Angels leader

There is a section of the cemetery reserved for members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club.^[11]

References

1. https://www.cfb.ca.gov/cemetery/public/coa103_2016_03_07_evergreen.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
2. "Unidentified bodies of 'suicide' buried". Lodi News-Sentinel. May 12, 1979.
3. "Jonestown Memorial – The Official Memorial and Wall Founded May 1979". Jones-town.org. Archived from the original on 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
4. Hill, Angela (May 10, 2011). "Jonestown memorial finally installed in Oakland's Evergreen Cemetery". Oakland Tribune. Inside Bay Area. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
5. Jones, Carolyn (May 29, 2011). "Jonestown memorial unveiled after 32 years". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on August 11, 2014. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
6. "Foelker, Otto Godfrey (1875–1943)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. U.S. Congress.
7. Eagle, Bob L.; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues: A Regional Experience. Greenwood Guides to American Roots Music. ABC-CLIO. p. 268. ISBN 9780313344244.
8. Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (3rd ed.). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 342. ISBN 9780786479924.
9. Wilson 2016, p. 353.
10. Hells Angels bury murdered leader Alleghany Times (June 11, 1989)
11. Christie, George (2016). Exile on Front Street: My Life as a Hells Angel ... and Beyond. Macmillan. ISBN 9781250095695.

External links

• Evergreen Cemetery at Find a Grave
• Jonestown Memorial at Find a Grave

37°46′19″N 122°10′46″W