Marker was replaced 11 Jun 2011.

Pleasant's original marker was wooden. It was replaced with a marble monument in 1965 by what is now the San Francisco African-American Historical and Cultural Society. Their marble grave stone came from above the doorway of one of Pleasant's homes in San Francisco.

A metal sculpture by R. Alan Williams, a prize-winning black artist, was also commissioned. In Williams' words, the sculpture depicted "a forceful stand, holding a body of purpose."

The inscriptions on the stone were carved by the late Myron Simich, whose sons, Steve and Dave Simich, still run the historic Napa Marble and Granite Works.

In 1965, the women of the Historical and Cultural Society labeled Pleasant "Mother of Civil Rights in California," and had the phrase Pleasant had requested — "She was a friend of John Brown" — carved on her marker.

Over the years, this stone, which was fragile, began to deteriorate. So a group of historians headed by Dr. Susheel Bibbs, an expert on Pleasant's life, and Lauren Coodley, a Napa Valley College history professor, began a campaign to raise money to replace it.

A fundraising reception was held at the Napa Valley Museum. The board at Tulocay Cemetery pledged half the cost.

The replacement stone was ordered in January. To economize, the stone, quarried in the Sierras, was shipped to China to be finished before being returned to Napa for engraving.

No one imagined that the return of the stone would be delayed by rough water after the tsunami hit the coast of Japan, or that it would arrive cracked in mid-May.

The cemetery board and interested citizens chipped in extra money and the Simiches covered the rush fee to prepare a replacement stone of white Sierra granite.

A ceremony was held at Pleasant's grave site Saturday as the culmination of a Napa County Landmarks walking tour of Tulocay.

The dedication began with a traditional Nigerian rite performed by Dr. Halifu Osumare, associate professor of African and African-American Studies at UC Davis.

Dr. Bibbs, a historian, author and performer who recently retired from teaching at UC Berkeley, spoke about Pleasant's life, and then introduced Coodley and Roxie DeLaca, a descendent of Alfred Higbie and Olive Sherwood.

Guy Washington, a manager with the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom for the National Park Service, spoke of Pleasant's importance in the history of our country.

To end the ceremony, Bibbs led the group in singing Rock of Ages, one of Pleasant's favorite hymns.

Mary Ellen (Mammy) Pleasant in her later years.