I’ve been delaying this post to account for all the most recent progress made on this project, but I think I can finally provide a substantive update on the effort to place a new marker at the grave of New Orleans athletic legend and Chicago American Giant John Bissant.

It’s going to happen.

We have all the key players in step with the project.

Jeremy Krock, founder and president of the famed Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project, says that once the group has funding open up – probably after the start of the New Year – the Bissant grave will be one of the markers slated by the NLBGMP for 2026.

Charisse DeLois Smith, John’s granddaughter, has given her support and help on the part of Bissant’s family.

And Jessica Strawn, Acting Cemeteries Superintendent at the City of New Orleans’ Cemetery Division, has connected with the team to provide information that will help move the project along and to offer moral support for the grave marker effort. She also said City staffers can assist in placing the new marker once it’s ready.

John Bissant is buried in Carrollton Cemetery No. 1, in the city’s Carrollton neighborhood near Tulane University. He’s interred in the same grave as two other family members, his wife Delores and his daughter Barbara.

(For earlier posts about Bissant, his grave and Carrollton Cemetery, check out this, this and this.)

Several years ago I pitched the idea of a grave marker for Bissant to Jeremy, and, after some discussions, he decided to climb on board with the project. There’s never been an NLBGMP marker placed in or near New Orleans, I wanted to generate more recognition for New Orleans Black baseball, and Jeremy said he’d been thinking about getting an effort going in the South. It all dovetailed.

(Although there’s never been an NLBGMP marker placed in this region, there has been a similar project taking place here. In 2013, a group effort helped place one on the grave of Wesley Barrow in the City of Gretna, just across the Mississippi River from downtown New Orleans.)

Meanwhile, I was able to connect with Charisse to learn more about John Bissant, and to raise the possibility of placing a new marker at her grandfather’s final resting place. As it turned out, she and her family had been working independently to honor John’s memory and get his name out into the public, including producing amazingly cool Bissant jerseys.

Getting the City of New Orleans on board was the most challenging venture. After months and months of trying to contact anyone at the Cemeteries Division to frustratingly no avail, I used my connections as a news reporter for The Louisiana Weekly, I emailed City Councilman Joe Giarrusso, whose Council district includes Carrollton Cemetery (it also includes my neighborhood, coincidentally), and whom I’d interviewed a few times for news stories for The Louisiana Weekly.

That unclogged the pipeline, and a City grounds employee called me within a couple days, which set in motion a process that led to Jessica emailing me and offering her and the City’s full help early this year.

Some more email correspondence, a phone call and Zoom session or so, and we scheduled and attended a group meeting in front of John’s grave in Carrollton Cemetery on April 2 of this year. We all introduced ourselves to each other, then touched base about what was left to be done to make a new marker a reality. (Jeremy, who lives in Peoria, Ill., obviously wasn’t able to attend, but I emailed him with details of what happened at the gathering.)

The biggest sticking point was the fact that the grave included two other people besides John, but a little hashing it out seems to have solved the issue – Jeremy and I will work on getting the marker for John Bissant produced (me doing a draft of the text, him securing funding), and Charisse said she and her family would investigate a smaller marker or something similar acknowledging her other two family members.

It must be noted that a tombstone does already stand at the grave, but it’s been so exposed to the elements and worn down by the weather that the text on it is completely obscured and illegible.

And that’s basically where things stand at this point. I’m working on the text, Charisse is looking into the other stone, Jeremy is waiting for funds to free up, and Jessica is coordinating on the City’s end and offering to assist whenever possible. I’m hoping that when we can get the marker installed, we might be able to do an unveiling or dedication event at the grave.

I actually spoke with Jeremy a couple weekends ago, when we both attended SABR’s Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference, which was held this year in Louisville. He and I were able to touch base in person and coordinate a bit on what the next steps are. Plus, it was just really good to see him.

Plus, last month I attended the regular meeting of the Schott-Pelican New Orleans chapter of SABR, where I updated attendees about the Bissant grave project, and I made a pitch for any assistance or support the chapter wanted to provide, including possible additional funding. (The chapter recently received a $500 grant from SABR headquarters, and for the last few local meetings, we’ve talked about how we can recognize and honor Black baseball in New Orleans, including getting a historical marker placed somewhere in the city. But hopefully more on that later.)