Denton merchant James A. Smoot donated land off Carroll Boulevard for a cemetery with a sign that now reads the 鈥淚.O.O.F. Cemetery, est. 1860.鈥� But there鈥檚 no explanation posted there about what the acronym on the graveyard鈥檚 green sign means or whom the deed did not permit to be buried there.
The cemetery is named for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a fraternal organization by working men in London in the 1700s. A chapter appeared in Denton in 1859, and the cemetery , according to the Denton County Office of History and Culture.
As the county history office points out, IOOF鈥檚 famed members include Ulysses S. Grant and Franklin D. Roosevelt. The order鈥檚 motto is 鈥淔riendship, Love and Truth,鈥� with its mission focused on promoting the 鈥渆levation of mankind鈥檚 character.鈥�
For the Denton chapter in 1933, though, this mission didn鈥檛 seem to apply to local Black residents.
鈥淥n the books right now for IOOF鈥檚 cemetery, the deed reads: You cannot bury Black 鈥� or if it makes you feel better, African American 鈥� humans in a city cemetery,鈥� Mayor Gerard Hudspeth told City Council members at a Dec. 5 meeting.
鈥淎nd no one has tapped on the table. No one has rallied around that. No one has said, 鈥楬ey! We have to find a solution to that.鈥� A city-owned cemetery, 2023, in the deed, cannot bury Black humans.鈥�
This year alone, several people of color have been buried at the IOOF Cemetery, according to published obituaries.
City Council members that declared the whites-only deed restriction was to the philosophy, principals and beliefs of the city of Denton.鈥�
The ordinance 鈥渨ent on to say that such restrictive language would not be enforced or recognized on any city-owned or -managed property,鈥� Chief of Staff Ryan Adams said last year, after the topic came up during talks about a city nondiscrimination ordinance.
The nonwhite restriction is contained in the 1933 deed in which the IOOF conveyed the cemetery to the city, according to a 2022 report from city staff.
During the council鈥檚 Dec. 5 work session, Hudspeth鈥檚 comments came in response to council member Brandon Chase McGee鈥檚 comment about proposed changes to the city鈥檚 ordinances. The city staff has proposed .
In response to Hudspeth鈥檚 comments, city staff provided more information about how the cemetery deed restriction was no longer valid because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1948 that 鈥渞acial covenants鈥� on real estate were unconstitutional. Staff also pointed to a 2022 report for the council in which Adams discussed the 2016 council resolution condemning the deed restriction.
The deed transfer dates back to 1933, about a decade after the city forcefully removed Black people from Quakertown, a vibrant Black community located near downtown and a college for white women, which later became Texas Woman鈥檚 University.
Today, about 5,800 people , including original settlers of Denton County and veterans dating back to the Texas Revolution, the Civil War and World War I and II. The cemetery received a state historical marker in 1994, according to the historical marker database.
Willie Hudspeth, a longtime local civil rights advocate and the mayor鈥檚 father, said he wasn鈥檛 aware of Black residents being buried at IOOF Cemetery.
鈥淭hey wouldn鈥檛 let them,鈥� he said Monday. 鈥淚t鈥檚 why I brought it up to the City Council [in 2016]. But that deed wasn鈥檛 changed.鈥�
In a Monday evening phone call, Dalton Gregory, who was a council member in 2016, recalled differently and discussed what transpired in 2016.
鈥淚 went out and walked all through the cemetery,鈥� Gregory said. 鈥淚鈥檇 been around a long time and saw the names of people who were buried there [at IOOF] who are not white.鈥�
Gregory said that like other people in Denton, he had thought Oakwood Cemetery in Southeast Denton was the area鈥檚 Black cemetery, but he said it was actually the first cemetery in Denton and didn鈥檛 have a deed restriction.
Anybody can be buried there,鈥� Gregory said. 鈥淢ostly Black folks are buried there because a bunch of the Black churches are nearby.鈥�
Because of Willie Hudspeth鈥檚 activism, Gregory said he proposed creating a resolution to condemn the IOOF deed restriction and point out that the city hadn鈥檛 been following it, and that the terms under which the property was transferred were no longer binding.
鈥淎t the next meeting, we had a workshop and everybody was happy [with the resolution],鈥� Gregory said. 鈥淲e made sure that Willie had seen it and read it.鈥�
Gregory said Willie Hudspeth鈥檚 actions to raise awareness about the 1933 deed restriction also led to the discovery that voters in the 1930s had passed a 2-cent tax to care for the cemetery.
But what Gregory noticed in 2016 was that the cemetery鈥檚 lawn was overgrown, and many monuments were in disrepair.
He said he pushed to have the city start taking better care of it, pointing out that they were 鈥渃ustodians鈥� because Denton had accepted that responsibility when it took over the deed and taxpayers were willing to pay a tax to care for it.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 spend anywhere near that amount [to care for it],鈥� Gregory said.
At the Dec. 5 meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Brian Beck suggested that the current council could do something about the 1933 deed restriction.
鈥淚 encourage any member of this body who wants to address the point of the mayor, please pitch that point,鈥� Beck said. 鈥淚 would be surprised if seven people didn鈥檛 support that pitch.鈥�