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News Flash - African
Americans Aren't Attracted to Civil War "Events"
The State Newspaper (Columbia, SC) had an article buried
on page B5 of the Saturday, April 16 edition that reported few blacks were
being attracted to "Civil War anniversary events." The article also reports
that the reason isn't a mystery -- "Across Dixie, Civil War commemorations
have tended to celebrate the Confederacy and the battlefield exploits of
those who fought for the slaveholding South." Even in SC our Department of
Archives and History promoted the Ordinance of Secession -- the document
that dissolved the Union and precipitated over 600,000 deaths in order to
defend slavery.
The Rev. Joseph Darby, an African American minister in
Charleston, SC was quoted as observing, "I think it's very painful and raw"
for blacks to attend such commemorations.
Chicora Treats Stones
at Jenkins Cemetery on Edisto Island
Chicora Conservators recently completed the treatment of
several monuments at the plantation-era Jenkins Cemetery on Edisto Island,
South Carolina. One monument was a badly shattered ledger for John LaRoche.
The other was a toppled and sunken obelisk for Thomas Bailey. The obelisk
had been toppled for so long that no one remembered who it memorialized. And
it had sunk so deeply into the sand soil that its lower sandstone base had
completely disappeared. It looked remarkably different pinned and standing
upright again!
Team Conducts
Assessment of Cemeteries at the Florida State Hospital
Chicora just completed the field aspects and historic
research for a detailed assessment of cemeteries on the property of the
Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee, Florida. Under contract with the
Florida Department of Children and Families the work examined four different
cemeteries used by the hospital (the state's first hospital for mental
patients), as well as another cemetery likely used by the state's first
penitentiary that was also located on the property.
Historic research examined not only the development of
the penitentiary and hospital, but specifically sought information regarding
those buried in the cemeteries. Several days were then spent examining the
burial grounds and the work involved ground penetrating radar studies to
evaluate cemetery boundaries.
This represents the third mental hospital where Chicora
has worked to ensure the complete documentation of patient burials. We have
also documented the various burial grounds for the S.C. State Hospital in
Columbia, South Carolina, as well as the St. Elizabeths Hospital in
Washington, D.C.
Chicora Provides
Cemetery Workshops
Chicora recently provided several workshops for different
groups around the Southeast. In November 2010 we taught at the annual
meeting of the Alabama Cemetery Preservation Alliance. Director Michael
Trinkley spoke on developing a cemetery preservation plan and conservation
ethics, while Conservation Administrator Debi Hacker spoke about
maintenance activities in cemeteries. After the meeting the workshop
continued at Montgomery's Oakwood Cemetery where Dr. Trinkley provided
information on alternative cleaning methods. He talked about different
poultices that could be used to clean stones, as well as some of the new
chemical cleaners such as the MasonRe products.
We also provided a one-day workshop specifically for
churchyard cemeteries. Hosted by the Catawba (A.R.P.) Presbytery Commission
at the Old Brick Church in Fairfield County, SC, this workshop addressed a
broad range of preservation planning and conservation issues, including
repairs and activities that churchyard caregivers could do themselves. Debi
Hacker explained how maintenance is more than simply mowing and explored a
broad range of plant issues. Afterwards, in spite of the damp weather, we
toured the cemetery talking about preservation, conservation, and
maintenance issues.
Interested in another
view of the Secession?
The Civil War Sesquicentennial is upon us -- along with
much justified controversy. For an interesting perspective, read this
editorial in
the New York Times by Edward Ball.
Chicora Conducts
Assessment of Cincinnati's Beautiful Spring Grove Cemetery
In September Chicora's Michael Trinkley and Debi Hacker
were invited to conduct a preliminary preservation and conservation
assessment of Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio. Originally
established as a rural cemetery in 1844, Spring Grove was transformed into
one of the nation's first lawn-park cemeteries by the renowned landscape
architect Adolph Strauch, who was hired by the cemetery in 1855. Today the
cemetery encompasses more than 450 acres and includes literally thousands of
lot monuments, lawn markers, mausoleums, and other memorials. The cemetery
includes water features, 44 miles of roads, and exquisite vistas.
In addition, Spring Grove - a National Historic Landmark
- has remained one the nation's best maintained and cared for cemeteries we
have ever had the pleasure of visiting. However,
 like
any 150 year old cemetery we did identify conservation needs. Because of
acid rain we found sugaring marble, gypsum crust, and spalling sandstone.
During our visit we examined a range of sandstone, marble, and granite
monuments, as well as mausoleums and bronzes. We were able to provide the
cemetery with detailed recommendations for a variety of the monuments.
If you'd like to learn more about Spring Grove, they have
an excellent website.
There is also a newly published book with beautiful illustrations of the
cemetery.
Check it out here.
We hope to be returning in the near future to help ensure
the continued preservation of this treasure.
Athens
Cemetery Fence Repaired and Re-erected
The University
of Georgia funded a major restoration of one of the Old Athens Cemetery's
most beautiful iron fences.
Situated on Jackson Street, this plot receives constant public attention -
so this major restoration project will be noticed by students and the public
alike. The work was conducted by Chicora conservators in conjunction with
Clive Lugmayer, a well respected Columbia artist and metal worker. The fence
required numerous repairs and resetting required repair of the original
granite blocks on which the fence sat.
Chicora will be
conducting additional work at the Old Athens Cemetery in late October -- let
us know if you'd like to visit while work is in progress!
Chicora
Conducts Assessment of Historic Elm Street Cemetery in Braintree, MA
 Chicora
Foundation was recently in the Boston area conducting an assessment of the
Braintree Elm Street Cemetery. This beautiful 18th and 19th century cemetery
contains slate, marble, and granite stones, as well as three below grade
tombs. Chicora's conservators spent time reviewing the town's maintenance
and also conducted at stone-by-stone assessment. A report has been completed
and will be presented to the town by our partner, Ms. Barbara Donohue, who
is also conducting historical research and ground penetrating radar studies.
You can read more about it
this local newspaper article.
Chicora
Requested to Exhume Additional Graves from St. Johannes Cemetery
In early
August, Chicora archaeologists were again retained by the Geils Funeral Home
to assist in the removal of several burials at the St. Johannes Cemetery (to
read about our initial visit see below). During
this visit we were requested by family members to remove one infant. A
second possible infant burial was searched for, but not found.
Chicora
Works with City of Columbia to Clean Up Lower Cemetery
Late late year
Chicora completed its report on Lower Cemetery -- Columbia's public cemetery
from the second half of the 19th century through much of the 20th century --
and forwarded a copy to the City of Columbia.
Lower
Cemetery before the City's cleaning
We were excited
that Columbia's City Manager Steve Gantt quickly contacted the Foundation
and wanted to set up a meeting to ensure the cemetery -- which few in the
City realized existed -- was cleaned up and appropriately cared for. In
early 2010 we met with Amy Moore in the City's Historic Preservation Office
as well as Melissa Smith Gentry, Director of Public Works, Sara Hollar,
Superintendent of Forestry and Beautification, and Capt. E.T. Young, who is
in charge of the North District (which includes Lower Cemetery). A
plan was put together to clean up Lower Cemetery and in matter of about a
month and a half the wooded section went from wilderness to nearly
park-like.
Part
of Lower Cemetery during the cleaning efforts.
Efforts are now
underway by Chicora to map the cemetery and ensure that all of the newly
discovered stones are appropriately recorded and transcribed. The City of
Columbia is still working to help ensure that a plan is implemented to
prevent the return of jungle-like vegetation and to help keep the cemetery
safe.
If you'd like
to read the complete Chicora report on Lower Cemetery, it is
available here as a pdf
document.
If you'd like to see the WOLO TV's Hidden Columbia
episode on Lower Cemetery, there are two available:
one
before the City's cleaning of the cemetery and
one
after the cemetery was cleaned up.
Chicora
Publishes work at the
Old Shoolbred Plantation on Kiawah Island
 Chicora
archaeologists have just released their report on the excavations at
what is known as the Shoolbred Old Settlement on Kiawah
Island in Charleston County, South Carolina. Found during the
excavations were the remains of six different slave structures in five
different areas of the site. Settlement in this area dates from the
first quarter of the eighteenth century and continued through perhaps
the first quarter of the nineteenth century, providing an exceptional
view of the lives of Kiawah's enslaved African Americans.
The study included detailed faunal analysis of the
collection, as well as extensive information on the artifacts recovered
from the slave settlements. Discussion includes the range of artifacts
that are best explained as part of the slaves' magio-religious world,
such as bits of glass, fragments of brass, and beads. These allow us to
glimpse a part of the hidden dimension of slavery that is rarely
discussed in archaeological investigations.
Read the
conclusions of the study here.
Chicora Conducts
Treatments at Family Cemetery in Colonial Heights, Virginia
While many box tombs are large, with massive ledgers,
some were designed for infants, such as this monument in a Colonial
Heights family cemetery. Chicora conservators found the monument as
little more than rubble, with the box entirely collapsed and the ledger
broken into six different fragments. To make the repair more difficult,
a misguided earlier repair had used ordinary Portland cement mortar.
Some of these earlier repairs had failed, but many were still clinging
tenaciously to the marble. Here are a series of photographs showing the
repair in progress.
Chicora
Quoted in Boston
Globe Article
Chicora's Director, Michael Trinkley
was quoted in the Sunday, November 15 Boston Globe article, "A
Race Against Time to Save History: Tens of Thousands of Gravestones in
New England are Crumbling" by Brian MacQuarrie.
Read the full article here.
Chicora Assists in
the Removal of Burials from St. Johannes Cemetery, Bensenville, Illinois
Chicora archaeologists and
osteologists spent two weeks in Bensenville, Illinois -- just west of
Chicago -- working on the removal of several graves from the St.
Johannes Cemetery.
This cemetery has been in the news for the past
several years as the local community and church fights efforts by
the City of Chicago to acquire the property for the extension of the
O'Hare International Airport runways.
While the efforts are still being
fought in court, Chicora was retained by the Geils Funeral Home of
Bensenville to assist them in the removal of four burials -- two
infants, one 15-year old, and one adult. While the funeral home was
removing a number of other burials in vaults, it was known that these
four were not. Therefore, the funeral home and the families they
represented wanted to be certain that the removal was done with care,
dignity, and respect.
As airplanes landed immediately north of the cemetery
and construction continued within yards to the west, Chicora
archaeologists identified the graves of four individuals -- two infants,
one adolescent, and one adult. Each grave was exposed by a backhoe being
expertly operated by the firm Stark & Son. Then hand excavation began
to slowly remove the fill and expose the human remains.
With the permission of the families, it was possible
to conduct very brief metric and non-metric analysis of the remains
prior to their removal, as well as examine and photograph the casket
hardware and trimmings.
The investigations at St. Johannes
provided an exceptional opportunity to examine the skeletal remains of a
late 19th and early 20th century German farming community. Skeletal
remains were found to be in very good condition, although burial depths
were quite deep. In addition, each of the burials included an
interesting assortment of casket hardware, including short-bar handles,
studs, casket plates and decorations, and even viewing glass. Each of
the caskets was found to be cloth covered Eastern white pine.
The associated report provides detailed information on
the skeletal remains, clothing items, and casket hardware.
Chicora
Provides Forensic
Archaeology Program to SC IAI
Chicora provided a two-day forensic archaeology
program for the annual meeting of the SC Chapter of the International
Association of Identification. The IAI is the world's oldest and largest
forensic organization. The SC Chapter was organized in 1969.
This year's conference, in Columbia, included a three-day program. The
first day, on forensic anthropology, was provided by Bill Stevens with
the Richland County Coroner's Office. The remaining two days explored
how archaeology can be of critical importance to forensics.
Field exercises were held on the surface recovery of
human remains, as well as the use of proper archaeological excavation
techniques for the recovery of buried remains. Additional segments were
held on the use of the Sokkia total station,
simple forensic entomology, and setting up grids for simple mapping.
Other information ranged from how Munsel Soil Color books can be used in
forensic work, to understanding how declination can affect the use of a
compass.
Over 50 people attended the 3-day event and Chicora
prepared a 75-page manual on the application of forensic archaeology to
crime scenes.
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