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Shockoe Hill Cemetery tour, 5/20
On Sunday, May 20, I will be leading a tour of Shockoe Hill Cemetery at 2:00pm, showcasing the many excellent student projects from this past Spring semester. We have new revelations on Nannie Caskie (the big angel monument) as well as many other stories in the cemetery. Join us there?
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HIST 201 podcasts – Spring 2018
In preparation for the East End Cemetery Community Gathering on April 27, I am posting some of this semester’s student research projects here. Each one offers an in-depth look at a particular grave/individual in the region: J. E. Ferguson (? – 1859), barber, Barton Heights Cemetery. Podcast by Bruno Davila, Blier Smith, and Isaiah Tyler.…
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Oakwood’s mortuary chapel
Fascinating new piece by Selden Richardson on the c. 1890 Daubrenet mortuary chapel at Oakwood Cemetery, now threatened by time and decay, in the Shockoe Examiner. There’s been very few studies of such mortuary chapels around town, and this particular study is urgent.
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East End Cemetery Community Gathering
The University of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the Friends of East End Cemetery will be hosting an open community event on Friday, April 27, from 5:30 to 7:30pm. It will take place at the Robinson Theater at 2903 Q Street. All are invited, and pizza will be provided. The purpose of this community gathering…
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Shockoe Hill Cemetery
Fun piece in the Richmond Times-Dispatch by Bill Lohmann this week on the recent activity at Shockoe Hill Cemetery and the work of its Friends group. He highlights the new Daniel Norton marker and its celebration. The Friends have two more activities upcoming: at 2:00pm on February 4, the group will celebrate the life and…
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Shockoe Bottom’s future
From Michael Paul Williams in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (January 8, 2018), a lovely and thoughtful meditation on African American history and commemoration in Shockoe Bottom. Williams explores the possibilities for Richmond’s African Burial Ground and other sites in Shockoe in light of related public history projects in Washington, DC, and Fredericksburg and beyond.
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Spring 2018 classes
In the Spring 2018 semester, I will be teaching my cemeteries course again at VCU: HIST 201 The Art of Historical Detection – Richmond Cemeteries. It will enroll 125 students, mostly non-history majors. That means a few field trips and hopefully lots of new podcasts to post. Doug Winiarski at U.R. will also be offering…
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Cemetery vandalism
Cemeteries are common targets for all types of vandals. The Richmond region recently saw a despicable example at a pet cemetery in Henrico County on Westbury Drive. On October 7, 2017, owner Marsha Rogers discovered that vandals had knocked over about 92 headstones at the “Pet Memorial Park.” The cemetery dates to the 1930s. It…
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Enrichmond’s Evergreen hire
On October 5, 2017, the Enrichmond Foundation (the new owner of Evergreen Cemetery) announced that it had hired Ted Maris-Wolf as Caretaker of Evergreen Cemetery. Dr. Maris-Wolf most recently served as the Vice President of Education, Research, and Historical Interpretation and the Director of the Rockefeller Library at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. He has experience…