This interim project takes as its focus two very different historic Spartanburg area cemeteries: one for a Revolutionary War era plantation and another for a Civil War and Reconstruction Era cemetery for a community of formerly enslaved persons. Together with the Spartanburg County Historical Society and descendants from those buried at each site, we’ll develop a plan for presenting these spaces to the public. This process may include: weeding and tending at the cemetery sites, cemetery photography, archival and genealogical research, scanning historical documents, visits to historic funeral homes and stone-cutters, tours of other area historic cemeteries, designing on-site signage, or development of a website or other virtual approach to presenting the cemeteries. Classroom discussion and readings will explore how mortuary practices have changed over time and may vary across our diverse community, as well as how to balance competing interests in preservation, family history, and tourism at historic cemetery sites.
- Teacher: Dixon