John McDonogh (29 December 1779–26 October 1850) was a United Statesentrepreneur and philanthropist, described as miserly, controversial, and eccentric.
He is best known for endowing public education in two major American cities—New Orleans and Baltimore.
After McDonogh died in 1850, he was buried alongside his slaves in the McDonogh Cemetery (now known as the McDonoghville Cemetery) on his plantation in present-day Gretna, Louisiana. In 1860, his remains were exhumed and re-buried in the Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore.
In 1945, John McDonogh's remains were again exhumed and re-buried, this time on the campus of McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Maryland. McDonogh rests there to this day, under a monument on which his rules for living are inscribed. The same monument had marked McDonogh's grave in Baltimore; it was transported to the McDonogh School campus in 1945 as well.
In return for his legacy, all that McDonogh asked was "that it be permitted annually for children to plant and water a few flowers around [his] grave." Since 1875, the students at McDonogh School have honored this wish in the school's annual Founder's Day ceremony.
McDonogh No. 26 School is the last school in New Orleans which honors this tradition. In their annual John McDonogh Day ceremony, students place flowers on the cenotaph in honor of McDonogh at the site of his former tomb in the McDonoghville Cemetery.