Draft #2
There was a time, once, when the bustling and growing city of Birmingham did not exist, when There exists only a few remaining landmarks that precede the establishment of the Magic City. One often neglected one is the Elyton Cemetery. Being the oldest cemetery in Birmingham, it holds much history. But, the question lingers, does it also hold a priceless work from the most famous artist to work in Birmingham?
Its story begins in 1821, fifty years before the city was officially established. This was the year the government granted a tract of land to the American Asylum for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, located in Connecticut. William Ely, attorney of the Asylum, negotiated sale of 40 acres of the property to Colonel John M. Dupuy. This was the year that the city of Elyton was established, a nod to the attorney who negotiated the original sale. Dupuy would own this property for over thirty years until 1853, when he sold twenty-five of those acres in a deed to Mitchell T. Porter except, as is noted, “one acre including the graveyard near the east end”. While there is not an exact year for the establishment of the cemetery, it is presumed to have occurred in those twenty years. Though most of the gravestones have since become indecipherable, the oldest marked grave is from the year 1834, that of Mrs. Nancy E. Scott. Three years later, in 1856, Porter granted to Joseph R Smith twelve of those acres, all except “one acre at the graveyard” which had apparently been reserved to the town of Elyton by Colonel Dupuy. However, the cemetery had quickly fallen in disrepair. By 1891, a group raised $450 for the cleanup effort. Until 1965, there would be three more cleanup efforts, and as can be seen today, they were never eff...
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...am, since it merged with Elyton in 1871. Since this was the case, the question arises of who could have ordered the commission of the laughing girl. It seems more likely that the statue was commissioned in the earlier years of the cemetery, before it became dilapidated.
Regardless of whether the laughing was really the work of the esteemed Moretti, there remains the bigger issue that has been cause for concern for over a hundred years, the same that troubled the concerned citizens of 1965. The Elyton Cemetery is one of the last remaining relics in Birmingham that predates its inception. While the laughing girl was ultimately destroyed, it is not too late for the cemetery to be restored. As one citizen was quoted in the 1956, “we have so little of the past generation left in Birmingham, we ought to do what we can to preserve it.” I think that still applies today.
“The author explains, “This tomb is a palace” (Cunningham 230). Bobby describes the tomb as a place where he and his brother shared their dreams and fondest moments. They drank and took drugs together there. This tomb was the brother’s sanctuary. Booby recalls hearing his father sawing and banging down in the basement making this clock. Cunningham stresses, “Our father is building a grandfather clock from a kit. He wants to have something to leave us, something for us to pass along” (Cunningham 231). He also recollects his father once again in the basement playing the clarinet. Cunningham adds, “If I put my ear to the floor I can hear him, pulling a long low tomcat moan out of that horn” (Cunningham 237). Most nine year olds shadow their father that is present in the home. From Bobby’s perspective, his father spends most of his time in the basement leaving him no choice but to latch on to his big
Ernie Barnes was and still is one of the most popular and well-respected black artists today. Born and raised in Durham, North Carolina, in 1938, during the time the south as segregated, Ernie Barnes was not expected to become a famous artist. However, as a young boy, Barnes would, “often [accompany] his mother to the home of the prominent attorney, Frank Fuller, Jr., where she worked as a [housekeeper]” (Artist Vitae, The Company of Art, 1999). Fuller was able to spark Barnes’ interest in art when he was only seven years old. Fuller told him about the various schools of art, his favorite painters, and the museums he visited (Barnes, 1995, p. 7). Fuller further introduced Barnes to the works of such artists as, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Correggio, which later influenced Barnes’ mannerist style of painting.
Did you know that in 1960, Betye Saar collected pictures of Aunt Jemima, Uncle Tom, and Little Black Sambo including other African American figures in areas that are also invalid with folk culture and advertising? Since, Saar collected pictures from the folk cultures and advertising she also makes many collages including assemblages, changing these into social protest statements. When her great-aunt passed away, Saar started assembling and collecting memorabilia from her family and created her personal assemblages which she gathered from nostalgic mementos of her great aunt’s life.
Ever take a midnight train to Georgia? No, well ever drive through Georgia? When driving through Georgia on State Road 49, there is a little town called Andersonville that is very easy to miss. To many it is just another town. Yet this town has its own trail. The Andersonville Trail is a small brown dirt road that leads visitors to the Andersonville National Historic Site (Roberts xi). This National Historic Site looks like a “well- tended” national cemetery. On closer examination, this cemetery is nothing like Arlington (Roberts xi). “In this national cemetery, the marble headstones are so close together, they almost touch. The markers appear to be one long head...
Ironically the burial ground’s discovery came from a land of no significance to prime, for an intended thirty-four-story federal office building. An environmental impact statement set off archeological test excavations, by producing an 18th century map delivering necessity to substantiate or disprove survival of a “Negro’s Burial Ground” (Kutz 1994).
After thirty years undisturbed in the tomb, Sister Marie Bernard's body was exhumed for examination. The cause for sainthood had begun. When the stone was lifted from the vault, the coffin was immediately seen. It was carried to the room prepared for it and placed on two trestles covered with a cloth. On one side was a table covered with a white cloth. The remains of Bernadette were to be placed on this table. The wooden coffin was unscrewed and the lead coffin cut open to reveal the body in a state of perfect preservation. There was not the slightest trace of an unpleasant smell. The Sisters who had buried her thirty years earlier noted only that her hands had fallen slightly to the left. The words of the surgeon and the doctor, who were under oath, speak for themselves:
The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) had three different artists work on display. It was split up into three different rooms the first room was Design 99 To Much of a Good Thing and in the next room is Latoya Ruby Frazier Mother May I and in the last room was Jef Geys Woodward Avenue. The art that was on display was not traditional art work. All of the artist’s work displayed in the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit was out of the box thinking. The flow in each exhibit made it easy to move from one piece of art work to another piece of work.
For years the burial ground was a forgotten part of American history until it was rediscovered in 1991. The site was then designated as historical landmark and later a national
Shea, R. 2004. Marcia Myers: Twenty Years Paintings & Works on Paper 1982–2002. Manchester, United States: Hudson Hills.
Cemeteries represent numerous lives and memories commemorating their deaths in scenes of cultural and social
Without the assistance of generous community members, the cemetery would not have been possible. “Pap” Taylor, a longtime citizen, gave the first acre of land, which inspired another outstanding citizen, namely “Uncle Bob” Wilson, to donate a second acre of land for burial p...
Moundville has been the focus of a large amount of archaeological interest due to its impressive earthworks. Clarence B. Moore produced well-publicized works. During his time in Moundville in 1905 and 1906, Moore pierced the mounds with “trial holes,” finding numerous burials and related artifacts. Unlike many treasure hunters, Moore donated the majority of his find...
This picture was a replica of what the graves looked like just after Andersonville closed.
The tragic poem, “The Ballad of Birmingham,” begins with a young child asking an imploring question to her mother, “May I go downtown instead of out to play” (Randall, 669)?
In Natasha Trethewey’s poetry collection “Native Guard”, the reader is exposed to the story of Trethewey’s growing up in the southern United States and the tragedy which she encountered during her younger years, in addition to her experiences with prejudice. Throughout this work, Trethewey often refers to graves and provides compelling imagery regarding the burial of the dead. Within Trethewey’s work, the recurring imagery surrounding graves evolves from the graves simply serving as a personal reminder of the past to a statement on the collective memory of society and comments on what society chooses to remember and that which it chooses to let go of.