RECENT COMMENTS
Joel Cabot on Power Outage on the Hill
Eric S. Huffstutler on What is up with the Church Hill Post Office?
Eric S. Huffstutler on What is up with the Church Hill Post Office?
Yvette Cannon on What is up with the Church Hill Post Office?
crd on Power Outage on the Hill
October newsletter from the Church Hill Association
10/06/2014 8:52 AM by John M
The October newsletter from the Church Hill Association is out on doorsteps and the usual spots around the neighborhood.
Includes: a call for submissions, letter from CHA president Geoffrey Cooper, Special Pets on the Hill by Eugenia Anderson-Ellis, slate of officers for 2015, part 1 of a series on local graveyards by Eric Huffstutler, Archiving Richmond: The Church Hill Project, Partnership for Smarter Growth’s Fall Saunter on Route 5, Holiday Weekend 2015 schedule, Real Estate Market News by Jeannie Bridgforth, CHA Transportation & Zoning Committees updates, and more.
The next CHA Membership Meeting will be Tuesday, October 21, 7:00 pm at St. John’s Church Parish Hall.
TAGGED: Church Hill Association
Hope everyone enjoyed the cemetery article which will continue in November covering Evergreen.
Today an attorney at work finally got the ball rolling in hopes to gain support of heavy hitting interest groups and possibly government – in hope to make a difference with their deplorable condition.
Eric – is there a digital version of the newsletter? Just curious. If not, I’ll continue to look around for one. Thanks!
Sammpy P and others who may have concerns about my article about the cemeteries.
First and foremost I want to make it perfectly clear that it is NOT my intension to ridicule but I am going into this project with a passion and concern about the condition of these cemeteries are in and thousands of souls buried in undignified conditions. Human beings that were someone’s mother, father, sister, and brother – or child but left behind and forgotten about like it was someone’s pet cat from 60 years ago.
I am afraid that sometimes it take a strong comment or even an in your face approach to stir up the pot to get a reaction from people who would otherwise turn a blind eye to the situations. If you think my statement was a bit strong (and someone said it was long before publication) then you should have read the original version. This one is tame compared to it!
But as I mentioned, various African-American Churches have been contacted with mainly zero replies even if their founders are buried there.
Thousands of family members were contacted with only a scant few responding and less offering help.
There have been various groups involved to make a difference including someone I have included in Part 2 (Evergreen) coming out the first week of November. Former Forest Ranger James “Jim” Bell, who worked at Evergreen years prior to John Shuck, started a group in 2000 called the “Virginia Foundation for the Preservation of Historic Black Cemeteries” . He said that no one “followed through” and so the group disbanded.
Much like the limited support from “Virginia Roots” that Veronica Davis founded in 2010 but she has since distanced herself from for various reasons. But her being a multi-published black history writer and researcher had also stated in a newspaper article that she was disturbed by the fact that the black community as a whole has turned their back on their ancestors buried at East End and Evergreen and how the white community has taken a bigger interest in making a change than the black community so was feeling betrayed and embarrassed by those who should actually care.
And even John Shuck who has volunteered his time over the past 6 years to clean up one lot at a time, has even told me that it is hard to recruit black volunteers because their attitude is one of not really caring about their history or people they are not related to in the cemeteries. That of course is a shallow view when it comes to heritage and pride.
I am still attempting to stir up interest with the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and state and city groups to make changes and make a difference between the owners and conditions of East End and Evergreen.
Eric
Aud… yes, they are under the Communications header on the menu bar then under the 2014 Newsletters section of the CHA website. Here is the direct PDF link for October’s newsletter:
http://www.churchhill.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/2014OCT_web7.pdf
And their website:
http://www.churchhill.org/
Eric
Just one more point to make. If you can not even get Maggie Walker’s family involved to keep up her section of the cemetery but volunteers have to do it for them, it speaks a lot about how people feel in general when they have no interest in even keeping her grave site maintained.
There was a petition years ago to move her body but the costs were prohibitive.
This is just one of several famous people buried there, some we have yet to locate their graves in the underbrush and jungle.
John Shuck really tried to get Virginia Union students involved in cleaning up Evergreen Cemetery on the weekends. I would pick up the students, drive them to Evergreen & return them to VUU after the clean-UPS & some students consistently helped clear brush on at the cemetery for several weekends in a row. Unfortunately the 5 or 6 kids stopped showing up to meet me at the designated pick-up spot on campus. John tried to find more VUU volunteers but had no luck. Perhaps somebody should yr to get the VUU students involved again? I do think the kids were truly interested in helping out w/this effort & think Eric might want to try contacting the Office of Student Activities to see if some young people would be willing to organize a group to tackle this project again. Eric? Your thoughts?
mary anne, great idea but John has been doing this for some time now. The problem is dedication. You found that out first hand. Without it the progress is horribly slow and the plots cleaned will only revert back without someone also keeping them up on a regular basis (hence perpetual care). I am still holding out to get a feel as to where we are with VFH and others associated who may be able to change laws concerning the way cemeteries are maintained. But with the cemetery in its current condition, it is extremely reclaimed by nature and would take deep pockets to bring tree services in as well as landscapers to clear out the land then plant grass again.
In August, Henrico changed their codes about ground maintenance in which cemeteries were previously exempt and now are not. But after someone from the county visited East End they decided to once again exempt it from even the new code because they consider it reverted back to nature so beyond maintaining. Ugh!
Greetings to all fellow residents,
I pray that we will find some way of understanding each others differences, backgrounds and have compassion for one another. Our ancestors did us no justice by en-slaving and destroying the culture of fellow humans. It not only hurt the African American of today but the White American as well. We are all Gods creation. No one is above the other. We must move on with understanding, and compassion in order to heal the open wound, and the mentality of AMERICANS. History and culture of the Blacks in “Fulton, Churchill, The World” is constantly swept under the rug. How can a people care about things that don’t feel apart of? Black history isn’t taught correctly in schools.
My family came from the bottom of the hill, they were forced out of fulton, they were told that jobs were coming, and the city tore the community down. My great-great grandfather was a mulatto, who looked exactly like a white man lived on top of the hill, “churchil”.
I’ve seen this community when Blacks were thriving, and doing well. Blacks owned stores, Nursing homes, fish markets and properties.
Drugs were the ultimate destruction of our black community. Drugs invaded our community, what black person owned a poppy field? Not making excuses but no one knew what drugs would do.
African Americans bought houses that were already in ruins or rented from slum lords. Lets be honest with ourselves “Americans”, we have laws in place so that lenders will be fair and just. Suntrust Mortgage just paid out millions of dollars for disparity in their lending practices, in 2012. Imagine 1950 or before.
What other race of people have laws in place just to be treated “civil”. So please, stop the put downs, and racist mentality. We all know Blacks have not had it easy. I’ve lived in Churchill my whole 45 years and never knew there was a slave trail, a slave cemetery. I knew where Patrick Henry spoke, Edger Allen Poe. Its not racist to speak of Robert E. Lee, but why couldn’t they point out where Gabriel Prosser was hung. That’s why blacks don’t seem to care because it wasn’t taught to us to care. Its the knowledge we seek, and most of us get caught up in working and just trying to survive because at the end of the day, we have to fight to hard for our voices to be heard. I will say that those older books, such as, “Old Richmond Neighborhoods”, the words written regarding African Americans were a bit dis-tasteful and insulting. We should be writing today in this era, with the knowledge of our history, in knowing that the people of that time were a bit racist and without reasoning.
I pray that we can all move forward for peace amongst American people, love for God and our home “the Earth”. Our children, Our future
Peace and Blessings to all
I also have ancestors buried in evergreen, and have tried locating the old family plot. My problem was the weeds and cant remember exactly where it was located. the last family member I can recall that was buried out there was in 1977. I was 7 years old. since then, older generations have passed on and it was abandoned. I wanted to get in with the clean up but just didn’t have the time. also, the work was being done on the opposite side of where I can remember my great grandfather funeral so long ago. I have a general idea of where the plot is. will there be anymore efforts to restore the cemetery?
Paula, I am still working on getting a group involved. As part of the VFH is a cemeteries department of sorts listed as: Remembering Slavery, Resistance, and Freedom Project
A partnership of the Virginia General Assembly’s MLK, Jr. Memorial Commission, The College of William and Mary, and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, I have approached them and they show an interest but still waiting on a response back. There are other avenues to explore as well but one step at a time. And a contract was also supposed to be under consideration for tree removal in Evergreen but ANYONE trying to tackle this will have to have the proper equipment and skills to cut and remove trees without damaging graves or headstones. It will be a very slow task taking some time and expense and not sure who Ms. Davis has in mind before she dropped out of the picture?
If you give me a name and possibly a year I can try and locate for you where your grandfather is.
Eric