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Library sits atop historical cemetery Park |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Monday, 27 June 2005 |
Library sits atop historical cemetery Park, building cover 'colored burial plot' used for 'non-whites'
June 26, 2005
By Robyn Adams
WATERBURY -- When standing in Library Park or in front of the Silas Bronson Library, one doesn't get the impression it is hallowed ground.
But, it is.
The city's first burial ground was known as the Grand Street Cemetery. It was the only burial ground within the town from 1686 well into the 1800s. Sometimes called "burying-yard hill," the cemetery was divided into sections for Episcopalians and Catholics. There also was a plot for non-whites, which Sturges Judd, the caretaker from 1862 to 1891, referred to as the "colored burial plot."
With the opening of Riverside Cemetery in 1853, the cemetery declined in use and began to fall into ruin. The Grand Street Cemetery continued to be used, but by the 1880s, it was considered by the township as a "desolate place in the center of the city," according to history books. But at least Judd mapped out every grave plot and recorded the existence of 800 graves with tombstones and 1,800 unmarked graves. He also recorded the site of what he called the "colored burial plot" on his inventory map. The plot was the resting place for blacks and American Indians.
After Riverside Cemetery opened, people chose to re-bury their loved ones in the new burial ground off Riverside Avenue. On April 24, 1891, then-Mayor Charles R. Baldwin turned the property over to the town to excavate the land.
Tombstones were sunken out of sight, sometimes, but not always, over the graves to which they belonged. About a dozen or so grave markers were put in the basement of the Silas Bronson Library and later embedded in the brick wall along Meadow Street giving the impression that Library Park is just a park.
"But most of them are still there," said Mare Galbraith, director of the Mattatuck Museum. "There could be as many as 2,000. I think it is important for people to understand this is, in fact, hallowed ground. They are buried where the park is, in back of the library, and of course in front, all around the footprint of the library. Even though some were moved to Riverside Cemetery, others were moved to new locations in the park, so in fact, it is still a cemetery. The former library director said if you dig down four feet, you will hit the markers."
Last fall, members of the African-American History Project kicked around the idea of erecting some kind of memorial to at least note the existence of a "colored burial ground." It is estimated to be slightly northeast of the Ben Franklin statue out to the sidewalk and maybe a little into the street. Museum researchers guess 40 people are buried in the tiny 25-foot by 25-foot plot. But the exact location will be determined by land surveyors hired last week, said Bob Dorr, chairman of the Waterbury Monuments Committee.
The monuments committee is collaborating with the African-American History Project and the museum to put up the memorial. Maxine Watts, chairwoman of the project, is also a member of the monuments committee. She brought the idea to them to get involved, and took her up on the offer.
Watts, a life-member of the Greater Waterbury NAACP, also told the local civil rights group about the project, but they didn't jump at the opportunity to get involved. Instead, tempers flared at the meeting.
James Griffin, NAACP president, said more research is needed to determine who is buried in the colored burial plot. He said he heard stories that colored soldiers, members of the underground railroad, indentured servants or descendants of free families could be in the plot.
"Whatever the case, we want the truth along with the disclosures," Griffin said. "We feel there needs to be an investigation of how many" families were impacted. He said they may have been "buried in a mass grave on top of each other like animals."
Watts, Dorr and Galbraith said bodies weren't dumped on top of one another. "First of all, a mass grave implies everyone was buried at the same time," Galbraith said.
Dorr said it was a respectful way to bury the dead, "but not having marked it is going to be remedied." He said a fraternal organization in Town Plot owns a common grave in Riverside Cemetery where poor people are buried.
Nicholas F. Bellantoni, the state archaeologist, was surprised to hear there may be up to 2,000 people still buried at Library Park, but said history has shown that even when burial grounds were thought to have been moved, they weren't and sometimes are unearthed during development projects.
While Watts' group is focusing on a memorial for the "colored burial" site, Bellantoni said the fact dead are still buried in the park should be noted as well.
"It would be a nice thing, not only as a monument to people buried there, but for public awareness. It needs to be respected in that form," Bellantoni said. " Some kind of marker needs to be there, not only to memorialize it, but make people aware it is there."
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Taphophilia?
taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)
ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"
DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries
Quote Repository
“Death, the refuge, the solace, the best and kindliest and most prized friend and benefactor of the erring, the forsaken, the old and weary and broken of heart.” Adam speech, 1883
Shirtless and Sculpted
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