Seems like I'm posting more about Richmond these days than any place else -- I suppose that makes sense given how close it is to Chapel Hill, how often I'm up that way, and how much history there is there (and particularly given that I guess four of my top ten favorite cemeteries are there).
Here's the latest on the slave burial ground in Richmond. Some people are concerned that the burial ground is being used for recreation. I doubt anyone using the cemetery knows this, but there's a long lineage to the idea that cemeteries are places to visit during leisure hours -- one of these days I'm going to finish off that paper on the constitutional significance of pre-Civil War cemeteries. Maybe it'll even be this year.
I've been meaning to post on the burial ground for a while. Among several stories I'm interested in is that stones from the gallows where Gabriel was hung following his attempted rebellion in 1801 are used as part of a highway ramp. I'm a little skeptical of this story, but maybe it's correct.
That's really interesting--I never knew cemeteries had been associated with leisure.
Posted by: Margaret Ryznar | July 18, 2012 at 10:06 PM
Yes--odd, isn't it? This was part of the rural cemetery movement, which took hold in the early 1830s. Go to the cemetery, stroll around, and think about the nation and the self. One of these days I'm going to finish that paper -- but in the interim if you're interested in rural cemeteries Blanche Linden's book, Silent City on a Hill, is *the* place to go:
http://www.amazon.com/Silent-City-Hill-Landscapes-Landscape/dp/0814204694
Posted by: Alfred Brophy | July 19, 2012 at 09:39 AM