Gravesite and Annual Commemorations
After McDonogh died in 1850, he was buried alongside his slaves in the McDonogh Cemetery (now known as the McDonoghville Cemetery) on his plantation in present-day Gretna, Louisiana. In 1860, his remains were exhumed and re-buried in the Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore. In 1945, his remains were again exhumed, and then re-buried on the campus of McDonogh School in Owings Mills. McDonogh rests there to this day, under a monument on which his rules for living are inscribed. The same monument had marked McDonogh's grave in Green Mount Cemetery; it was transported to the McDonogh School campus in 1945 as well.
In return for his legacy, all that McDonogh asked was "that it be permitted annually for children to plant and water a few flowers around grave." Since 1875, the students at McDonogh School have honored this wish in the school's annual Founder's Day ceremony.
McDonogh No. 26 School is the last school in New Orleans that honors this tradition. In their annual John McDonogh Day ceremony, students place flowers on the cenotaph in honor of McDonogh at the site of his former tomb in the McDonoghville Cemetery.
Read more about this topic: John Mc Donogh
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