“We the People”: Historical Cemetery Archaeology in Philadelphia

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "“We the People”: Historical Cemetery Archaeology in Philadelphia," at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Philadelphia’s cemeteries tell the stories of the people who built and shaped the “Birthplace of America.” These sacred sites and the remains of those buried in them provide information unavailable from any other source about the everyday lives, health, and mortuary practices of people who are otherwise invisible to history. Collectively, this information reveals over three centuries of acculturation and urbanization, class conflict and competition, racism and inequity, resistance and perseverance, and accomplishment among the people who witnessed many of America’s most important historical events. This session includes papers on projects that represent a wide range of cemetery types complemented by presentations on mortuary artifacts, human remains, and efforts to preserve these unique cultural resources.

Other Keywords
Philadelphia • Cemeteries • Cemetery • mortuary • bioarchaeology • Preservation • Burials • Bottles • Salvage • Ethics

Culture Keywords
Historic

Investigation Types
Bioarchaeological Research • Heritage Management

Material Types
Human Remains

Geographic Keywords
Mid-Atlantic • MIDDLE ATLANTIC • Northeast • Philadelphia, PA • Philadelphia Pennsylvania • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-9 of 9)

  • Documents (9)
Documents
  • The African Friends to Harmony Burial Ground and Mutual Aid: Community Involvement Across Centuries (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Kimberly A. Morrell.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "“We the People”: Historical Cemetery Archaeology in Philadelphia" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Throughout the nineteenth century, the African Friends to Harmony Burial Ground in West Philadelphia (1826-c.1886) received burials arranged by the African Friends to Harmony benevolent society as well as deceased members of the African Baptist Church of Blockley/Monumental Baptist and Mount Pisgah African...

  • African-American Burial Practices and Community Identity, Cohesion, Social Resistance, and Autonomy in Ante-bellum Philadelphia (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only John P. McCarthy.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "“We the People”: Historical Cemetery Archaeology in Philadelphia" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. There was a significantly greater occurrence of African-influenced or Creolized burial practices at the later of two cemeteries used by Philadelphia’s First African Baptist Church in the early nineteenth-century. Given that the process of laying the dead to rest represents a special social moment where...

  • Bentham & Backhoes: a utilitarian approach to the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia cemetery excavation (2022)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Kimberlee Moran.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "“We the People”: Historical Cemetery Archaeology in Philadelphia" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Archaeological projects that involve or encounter human remains must navigate a multitude of ethical considerations. Several established ethical frameworks can guide archeological decision-making when working in such contexts. This paper addresses the 2017 excavation of the First Baptist Church of...

  • Burial Grounds Around the Edges: Franklin Square and St. Stephens (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Rebecca Yamin.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "“We the People”: Historical Cemetery Archaeology in Philadelphia" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Franklin Square, one of William Penn's original squares, was refurbished in anticipation of the opening of the Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Historical research revealed that the First German Reformed Church leased a portion of the square to use as a burial ground in 1741. Following well established...

  • Felons, Paupers, Or Overflow Burials? Un(der)-documented Burials In One Of Philadelphia’s Public Squares. (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Kenneth J. Basalik.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "“We the People”: Historical Cemetery Archaeology in Philadelphia" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Philadelphia was to be a “Green County Town” with wide streets and green spaces. As part of that vision five squares were created for the use of the public. In the eighteenth century some of these spaces were used as “potter’s fields”. Since burials in the squares was halted in the early 19th century, these...

  • Not Your Average Pine Box: A Glimpse Into 19th Century Coffin Wood From The First Presbyterian Church In Kensington (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Matthew G. Olson.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "“We the People”: Historical Cemetery Archaeology in Philadelphia" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In 1816, the First Presbyterian Church in Kensington purchased lots along Montgomery Avenue for use as a cemetery. The burial ground was active from 1818 to 1841, but the church obtained a relocation permit in 1857 and sold the land to the City of Philadelphia in 1861. Today, a section of the former cemetery...

  • Osteobiographies of Mrs. Ann (née Crusoe) and Reverend Stephen H. Gloucester, Abolitionists of Philadelphia (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Thomas A. Crist. Kimberly A. Morrell. Douglas B. Mooney.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "“We the People”: Historical Cemetery Archaeology in Philadelphia" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Not all figures who sustain social or political movements are obvious or celebrated. For instance, in 1923 Rosetta Douglass Sprague published a short biography of her mother Anna Murray-Douglass, the first wife of Frederick Douglass. No such biography of Ann (Crusoe) Gloucester exists despite her husband...

  • Picking Up the Pieces: An Analysis of the Bottles from the Former Blockley Almshouse Cemetery Site, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Alison M. Ricci-Wadas.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "“We the People”: Historical Cemetery Archaeology in Philadelphia" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Artifacts from places of confinement, excavated by archaeologists from institutions occupied long ago, provide unique insights into the people who lived, worked, and died there. Between 1835 and 1905, the Blockley Almshouse in Philadelphia housed the sick poor, mentally ill, unwed mothers, and children. In...

  • The R.I.P. Myth: Why There Is Little Peace For Philadelphia’s Unmarked Historic Burial Places (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Douglas B. Mooney.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "“We the People”: Historical Cemetery Archaeology in Philadelphia" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Philadelphia has often been described as a city of cemeteries. Today there are more than 300 known burial sites spread throughout its borders – ranging from small family plots, to ancient churchyards, to large rural cemeteries. The vast majority of these exist as unmarked and redeveloped burial places that are...