Forgotten Funeral Home Was Once Civil War Site

Discovering Griffin Funeral Home in Bronzeville.

I couldn’t drive down 32nd King Drive without wondering about the ghost sign on the west side of the street. What was it? And why was it still there? Finally one day after picking up a Oreo custard from Culver’s I decided to look up the address: 3232 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. What I discovered absolutely BLEW MY MIND.

What is now an abandoned building and ghost sign was once the site of Griffin Funeral Home.

Founded by husband and wife, Ernest and Alyce Louise Carter Griffin, Griffin Funeral Home was a family business that eventually settled in Bronzeville in 1969. They hosted funerals for Black Chicago notables such as Olympic sprinter Jesse Owens, Lil Hardin Armstrong (wife of Louis Armstrong), and more. Their most notable and largely attended funeral was for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad who served as the leader of the Nation of Islam from 1934 until his death in 1975 (click here to check out our visit to the historic home of Elijah Muhammad).

Prior to it becoming Griffin Funeral Home it was the site of Camp Douglas, which was one of the largest Union Army prisoner-of-war camps for Confederate soldiers taken prisoner during Civil War. While researching his family’s genealogy, Griffin discovered his grandfather served at Camp Douglas in the Union Army’s 29th Colored Regiment Company B. This inspired Griffin to host Civil War reenactments at the funeral home. Griffin also sparked controversy by flying the confederal flag at the funeral home, which was always torn down.

Here is how Griffin Funeral Home looks today:

The ghost sign that peeked my interest.

Ernest passed in 1995 at the age of 83 and Alyce passed away in 2017 at 97-years-old. Their daughter, Ethel Dawn Griffin-O'Neal, managed the funeral home until deciding to close its doors in 2007.

Shout out to Kathy Chaney, The Newberry and Chicago Suntimes for providing thorough details about Griffin Funeral Home.

Inspired by my internet buddy, Erica Buddington, I will continue to explore the spaces that mesmerize me, because the stories that once existed are always waiting to be unearthed.

-Tanikia Carpenter