What does an obelisk symbolize? Who is a “relict”? How do you figure out which stones are “headstones” and which are “footstones” associated with family monuments? To answer these questions, Dr. Lynn Rainville is offering a new course on “Death and Dying in Albemarle County” this Fall (2012) through UVA’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies. The class will meet Thursday nights from October 25 through December 13 (no class on November 22), from 7pm to 9pm at Darden (classroom TBA).
“Memorial Day” has become a gateway to summer: public pools and beaches open for the season, grills are fired up, and public offices are closed. It’s easy to forget the reason for the holiday. Originally called Decoration Day (in recognition of the efforts to bring flowers and flags to the graveside of fallen soldiers), its origins are debated. Some credit southern women for starting the tradition of decorating veteran graves after the Civil War, but the official origins lie with General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, who established the first Memorial Day via a General Order on May 5, 1868.
This year marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of Charlottesville (1762). There will be activities all year, but the focus of the celebrations is a one-week tour-de-force of Charlottesville’s rich and diverse history. The festivities begin on May 26th (see below) and continue through June 3. The following list highlights the theme for each day: May 26 - Remembering Those Who Died in the Civil War May 27 - Remembering the 200th Anniversary in 1962 May 28 - 250 Years of Sacrifice in Our Nation’s Wars May 29 - 250 Years of African-American Community Life May 30 - 250 Years of Growing Neighborhoods May 31 - 250 Years of Religion, Education and Culture June 1 - 250 Years of Architecture, Development and Design June 2 - Living History Festival of Our First 200 Years June 3 - Reenactment of the British invasion of 1781 Below is a summary of the events for the first week (click on the image for a larger picture).
Old family cemeteries are often subsumed by modern developments, roads, and construction projects. In this case, a northern-Albemarle cemetery was enveloped by a series of new town houses, just west of the Target/Kohl’s mall and Route 29. The photo above, taken by Rob Eastman, shows the cemetery tightly packed in between houses. Fortunately, a metal fence was erected recently to protect the graves. The modest markers are paired head and footstones (as shown in the close-up below).
Attend a free lecture on local African-American Cemeteries by Dr. Lynn Rainville at the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library Sunday, February 5th at 2pm in the McIntire Room (third floor, central branch of the library). Professor Rainville will discuss her research into historic, black burial grounds and the associated mortuary beliefs and funerary patterns. Come learn more about these “outdoor museums” of African-American beliefs and family connections. Prior to the talk, explore a related website designed by Prof.
Upcoming event, January 25th, 2012, Noon: “The Enduring Legacy of Henry Martin and Other Enslaved Laborers at U.Va.” (in the Harrison Institute auditorium). Later that day, at 5:30 p.m., a second event will be held to honor Mr. Martin as part of U.Va.’s commemoration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (in the Rotunda Dome Room). Several scholars will discuss the lives and contributions of Mr. Martin and other formerly enslaved people at UVA during the lunchtime lecture.
Join University of Virginia students (Memorial For Enslaved Laborers Committee) as they discuss their efforts to create a more appropriate Memorial to commemorate the enslaved laborers who constructed the University and lived on grounds during the antebellum period. An open discussion will beheld November 2nd from 7:30 to 8:30pm in Clark 107. The discussion will include a history of the project, a dialogue about its design, and comments by a guest speaker, Professor Claudrena Harold (Associate Professor, History).
Spend this Memorial Day honoring some of Charlottesville’s former citizens and learning more about how Charlottesvillians from the past honored the dead. Join Dr. Lynn Rainville (anthropologist and historian) on a one-hour tour of one of Charlottesville’s most historic graveyards, Maplewood Cemetery (located behind Martha Jefferson Hospital). Learn about historic gravestone symbols, mortuary rituals, and funerals from bygone eras. Find out why Victorian mothers were encouraged to take their children on strolls through the landscapes of the dead.
I’ve posted in the past about the Kitty Foster site at UVA. Recently, the University of Virginia dedicated a new park at the former site of Catherine Foster’s house and family burial ground. Foster’s home was part of an antebellum community adjacent to the University named “Canada,” probably a reference to the Free Black population who lived there (slaves were emancipated in 1843 in Canada). Catherine “Kitty” Foster was a Free Black woman who purchased land for a house in 1833.
I have recently posted an unpublished manuscript by a local historian, Gayle M. Schulman. Read below for background on her work and a link to download the article…. In 1996, local historian Gayle Schulman came across a series of letters written in 1866 by Isabella Gibbons, a newly freed slave who taught in the Charlottesville’s Freedman’s School. Ms. Schulman’s project to research the life of Gibbons and her family (part of which was published in the Magazine of Albemarle County History, Vol.
Last week’s post provided the historic context for the large African American population that lived in Amherst County, Virginia. But families and individuals should not be reduced to numbers. In this post we review the life of a interesting woman: Signora Hollins. Signora was born in either 1861 or 1864, during the Civil War. Signora first arrived at Sweet Briar around 1874 when her aunt was hired as the cook for Indiana Williams’ household (at Sweet Briar House).
When Carter G. Woodson first proposed a celebration of African American culture and history it was designated as a “week.” First observed in 1926 he called it “Negro History Week.” In 1976 this evolved into “Black History Month.” Ideally every day of the year we would recognize the historical and cultural contributions of African Americans. In this blog I will focus on African America history in Amherst County for the next 4 weeks.
Two years ago I published a post about Hungrytown, in southern Albemarle County. Recently I received an email from a descendant asking about a nearby cemetery. I visited the cemetery a number of years ago. It contains the graves of families who lived in the neighborhood: Toms, Meltons, and others. Unfortunately only one stone is inscribed: that of a veteran, Wilton Toms (1828-1910) who served in the 46th Virginia Infantry during the Civil War.
Charlottesville has many ties to the Lewis and Clark expedition: Meriwether Lewis was born in Albemarle County, William Clark’s family lived here for a time, Thomas Jefferson is the President who sent them on their mission to “… explore the Missouri river, & such principal stream of it, as, by it’s course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean, … may offer the most direct & practicable water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce” (1803 instructions), Albemarle is now home to the Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center, and, of course, we have the Lewis and Clark Statue at the intersection of McIntire, Ridge, and Main Streets.
The building may be vaguely familiar to modern-day Charlottesvillians…perhaps the exposed brick side looks familiar ? It’s hard to place this building today because the portico and the moose have been removed (the four Corinthian columns in the front). The site is on East High Street, adjacent to the Old County Jail. Built in 1902, this was the home of the Charlottesville Lodge No. 389, B.P.O. Elks (organized in 1897). This building served as their headquarters for decades.
Walking down West Main Street takes you back in time, when Starr Hill referred to a neighborhood, not a brewery and when the Railroad was the main means of travel in and out of the city. If you keep your eyes peeled while walking you can spot century-old buildings, the structural remainders of those by-gone days. One beautiful example is a former church located on Commerce Street in the middle of the Starr Hill Neighborhood (bordering on the Vinegar Hill Neighborhood).
In recognition and honor of Barack Obama’s recent victory, I wanted to turn to local achievements and highlight a few examples of African-American leadership in Charlottesville’s past. Obama’s historic victory rests on the struggle and hard work of centuries of African-Americans. At the national level we can point to the success of such diverse individuals as Booker T. Washington, Bille Holiday, W.E.B. DuBois, Zora Neale Hurston, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
In the 1910s, Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932) donated money to help Booker T. Washington fund six African-American schools in Alabama. The project was a success and soon thereafter Rosenwald (born to a Jewish family that had immigrated from Germany and later, co-owner of the Sears & Roebuck company) created the “Julius Rosenwald Fund” for African-American schools in the south. The goal of the project was to build new and innovative school houses (using, in part, Sears & Roebuck building kits).
Did you ever wonder where the term “milestone” came from ? As in, “I’ve reached an important milestone today.” A synonym today would be “sign” or “mile marker” and the modern-day version is likely to be green with white, plastic lettering. The photo shown here illustrates an historic version of a road sign. Today the marker lies behind the Amherst County Museum & Historical Society, but it is no longer in situ.
The term “history” in locohistory can be defined in a number of ways. At its most basic, it is something that occurred in the past. For inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places it should be at least fifty years old. The study of “history” includes past peoples, events, structures, and landscapes. This week’s post considers a slightly more recent event that occurred in 1976: the creation of the pedestrian mall on East Main Street.