Rest Sweet Rest: Addressing the Challenges to Preserving African American Cemeteries in an Urban Environment

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Urban Preservation Challenges in a Global Perspective", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In 1895, a group of trustees established Douglass Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia, named in memory of Frederick Douglass and for Alexandria’s African American community. Over a century later, the cemetery faces several intersecting preservation issues that threaten the physical integrity of the site and the African American history it contains. Encroaching development, climate change, urban pollution, vandalism, and neglect have resulted in significant damage. Citizen activists, descendants, and archaeologists share concerns, demand action, and call for much-needed management and funding. To tackle the preservation threats, archaeologists propose to use multi-methodological techniques to engage digital conservation technologies and, ultimately, design virtual environments for community engagement. We aim to measure water damage, employ 3D scanning, and analyze available imagery. This paper presents our work in documenting and preserving Douglass Cemetery. Lessons learned may be applied to other fragile and significant African American cemeteries and sites in complex and evolving urban contexts.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Urban Preservation Challenges in a Global Perspective   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow