Historic Black cemetery in St. Louis at center of lawsuit against billboard company

A woman whose mother and grandmother rest in Washington Park Cemetery wants to get rid of the commercial signage hanging over their graves, but she's at odds with a big ad firm

Dawn Onley

Apr 24, 2019

A descendant of two Black women buried at an historic cemetery in St. Louis County, Mo., have filed a lawsuit against an outdoor advertising company for erecting three billboard columns among their graves.

The lawsuit, filed by Wanda Brandon, against Drury Displays, Inc., said the billboards placed at the century old Washington Park Cemetery — once the largest burial ground for Black people in the St. Louis region — are “offensive and disrespectful” to the people buried at the cemetery and their families, according to local station KTVI. Brandon’s mother and grandmother are buried in what Brandon believes to be neglected and overgrown areas of the cemetery. She has so far failed to locate their graves.

Drury Displays owns a stretch of the cemetery, which it purchased more than 30 years ago. It uses its land to display billboards on top of the three columns. Brandon said she attempted to address the matter directly with Drury initially but that proved futile.

“I was told directly, ‘We bought the land fair and square, and it’s ours to do whatever,’” Brandon told the station.

Vince Miller, president of DDI Media, declined KTVI’s request for comment about the lawsuit. However, Miller re-sent a statement that the company had previously sent out when the issue first started garnering public attention.

“For more than three decades, we have had three billboards visible from Interstate 70 on property owned by DDI Media where Washington Park Cemetery is operated. We are not able to comment on the litigation, but those billboards have played an important role in the cemetery’s ongoing operation for many years — with the full support and agreement of the cemetery owners and operators,” the statement said, adding that the company maintains its property near the billboards. “We have always worked to be a good partner, citizen, and neighbor – working in a respectful manner. We have and always will strongly support efforts to maintain the cemetery and honor the memories of those who are buried there.”

This is just the latest in a string of troubles for the cemetery. Several entities over the years have owned the cemetery, which has reportedly had parcels of land sold off, grave sites relocated and a mass grave uncovered. Much of what remains shows evidence of neglect.

Kevin Bailey, who is not named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, currently owns the cemetery.

Brandon’s lawsuit is asking the courts to grant a permanent injunction that mandates DDI Media remove its billboards from the cemetery grounds.

Brandon said the whole disrespect shown to the cemetery, including its unkempt condition, is because its inhabitants are Black.

“If this was a white cemetery, this would’ve never happened,” Brandon said.