Visalia Pioneer to Receive New Headstone
By Steve Pastis
At 10 a.m. today, Edmond Wysinger, a Visalia civil rights pioneer, will be given a new headstone at Visalia Cemetery.
“Edmond Wysinger tried to get his son into Visalia High School in 1888,” said local historian Terry Ommen. “The high school wouldn't allow his son in because he was African American.”
Wysinger challenged the school in superior court and lost, but he won in the California State Supreme Court, Ommen added.
Michael Smith, introduced to Wysinger's story through an Oct. 2005 article in the Valley Voice, enlisted Ommen's help to find Wysinger's headstone in the old part of Visalia Cemetery.
“We found a piece of broken headstone near where the headstone would have been,” Ommen said. “Michael decided to put in a new headstone and include the old piece.”
Smith first contacted members of Wysinger's family in Berkeley and received permission for his plans.
Meanwhile, Theresa Rodriguez, a mother who was working on a project with her daughter, also became interested in Wysinger.
“She came across the same story,” Smith said. “She visited his grave and found that there was no headstone at about the same time I did. The cemetery called me and said, 'We have someone interested in doing the same thing you're doing.'”
The result was that Rodriguez and Smith decided to split the cost for the headstone, which cost about $535, according to Smith.
“It would have cost $900, plus a $200 set-up fee, but the Visalia Cemetery waived over half the cost,” said Smith.
The new headstone will read “Edmond Wysinger, Born 1816 – Died February 1, 1891.”
