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VCU’s Apology
On September 16, 2022, Virginia Commonwealth University’s board of visitors approved a resolution apologizing for the 1968 heart transplant episode in which Bruce Tucker’s live heart was taken without his and his family’s consent at the Medical College of Virginia’s hospital. The resolution also acknowledges and regrets the earlier practice of targeting Black graves to…
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The Long Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe
In 1922, the admirers of Edgar Allan Poe in the Poe Foundation adopted the “Old Stone House” on Richmond’s Main Street to serve as a library and museum in tribute to the city’s famous son. The Poe Museum has since grown to be a beloved fixture and notable home to Poe memorabilia and events. This…
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No More Confederate Flags at Hollywood
Rex Springston just published a useful investigative report on the Hollywood Cemetery Company’s changing display policies regarding Confederate flags, available here at the Virginia Mercury. It follows up on his earlier piece from 2020 written in the midst of the protests against Confederate monuments, where he reported that Hollywood had “temporarily” removed the once-ubiquitous rebel…
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Enrichmond’s collapse
In early 2016, Richmond’s Evergreen Cemetery was owned by a private entity that for a long time could not manage the site’s overgrown, distressed sixty acres. Adjoining it was East End Cemetery, likewise suffering in its own way in legal limbo without funding or management beyond a core of families and volunteers. Since then, the…
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The Crest of Shockoe Hill
What a profound week for the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground. It began on Sunday, June 12, with the unveiling of the state historical highway marker at the corner of Fifth and Hospital Streets. The marker was sponsored by the Department of Historic Resources, and it may possibly be the first official signage that the…
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Gravestone carver registry
Just offering out here the idea to create a registry/index of stonecarvers who worked in central Virginia in the 19th and 20th centuries, as that idea was just offered to me by Joanna Wilson Green at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Hopefully we can follow up with another post with an announcement along those…
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Enrichmond update/My conclusion with John Sydnor
John Sydnor is apparently no longer with the Enrichmond Foundation. He had served as Enrichmond’s executive director since 2011, with the support of the Virginia Outdoors Foundation and other political allies, and he was a central player in Enrichmond’s dismaying stewardship of Evergreen and East End Cemeteries. Way back in June 2017, I met Sydnor…
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What the Dog Knows
Last week I was able to witness something special in our region’s cemeteries — the work of cadaver dogs and their handlers trying to discern the nature of a burial ground’s landscape. The primary advocate for Richmond’s Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground, Lenora McQueen, had seen a 2021 presentation by Cat Warren on how cadaver…
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State funding extended for African American graves
Last week, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin signed into law Senate Bill 477 and House Bill 140, together the work of Senator Jennifer McClellan and Delegate Delores McQuinn. The new rules expand the basis for eligibility under the Virginia Historical African American Cemeteries and Grave Fund. Previously, the state provided maintenance funding for the total number…
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A moment to celebrate for Shockoe Hill
Hooray! This morning, the state review board and the board of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources at their quarterly meeting both unanimously approved our nomination of the “Shockoe Hill Burying Ground Historic District,” for listing on the Virginia landmarks register. This step moves the nomination forward to the National Park Service for listing on…