This grave marker which is at Hackensack Cemetery, located at
289 Hackensack Avenue Hackensack, New Jersey reveals that George H. Johnson served in the
U.S. Army during World War II and died at the age of only 53.
George H. Johnson was not on the Original Wall Unit List, but this confirms his connection to Hackensack by being buried within its borders since passing and forevermore. George H. Johnson is buried in the African American section of Hackensack Cemetery. In the 1880’s a law was passed because of an incident concerning Hackensack cemetery,
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Making it a crime to refuse burial of African Americans in cemeteries with a fine of up to $500.00. The cemetery was founded in the 1890’s and the segregation within its grounds went on for many years to follow with attitudes probably changing after World War II.
Although grave plots having been bought before the 1950’s before one dies and many African Americans more comfortable resting their loved ones in a more traditional area among friends and
family not much has changed. Italians in Hackensack are much more highly represented in
St. Joseph’s cemetery for similar reasons they really were not welcome in the more Dutch and Anglo-Saxon cemetery of Hackensack at the turn of the 1900th to the 20th century so they created their own cemetery through St. Joseph’s church.
Written by:
Bob Meli
August 11, 2018
