About the Grave Marker Project

As part of The Josh Gibson Foundation’s commitment to provide academic and athletic programs that foster the necessary skills for the success of tomorrow’s youth, the organization has established the “Negro Leagues Memorial Markers: A Josh Gibson Foundation Initiative” as a way of honoring the past to inspire the future. This initiative is designed to raise money to place gravestones at the burial plots of at least eighteen Pittsburgh-area Negro League players, and was kicked off by a ceremony dedicating a marker at the gravesite of Helen Gibson, Josh Gibson’s wife.

The currently unmarked graves span 13 cemeteries throughout Allegheny County, including Allegheny Cemetery, Homestead Cemetery, Homewood Cemetery, and Round Hill Cemetery. The deceased Negro Leagues veterans represent a veritable Who’s-Who list of legendary Negro League Baseball teams such as the Homestead Grays, Pittsburgh Crawfords, Chicago American Giants, Memphis Red Sox, Birmingham Black Barons, and Cleveland Browns, among others. The unmarked graves were identified through dedicated research by local teacher and Negro League author Vincent T. Ciaramella.

“The Josh Gibson Foundation celebrates everyone who was a part of the Negro Leagues,” says Foundation President Sean Gibson, the great-grandson of slugger Josh Gibson. “I was shocked at how many Negro League players are buried in unmarked graves right here in Allegheny County. We want to help honor their memories. Through the Negro Leagues Memorial Markers: A Josh Gibson Foundation Initiative, their descendants and anyone visiting these cemeteries will get to know a little something about their lives.”

Each Memorial Marker is estimated to cost around $1,000. The Foundation hopes to raise enough money for the first eighteen Memorial Markers by the end of 2023, with a hope of expanding this initiative to other cities to more broadly honor Negro League players.