Finally.....pt 2 (facts/thoughts)

A few of the more interesting discoveries regarding cemeteries, for more information refer to the websites linked below:

http://www.prairieghosts.com/grave_history.html
a site discussing historical information for cemeteries by the author of "BEYOND THE GRAVE" and based upon its contents

http://www.alsirat.com/silence/history.html
a nice rundown on the development of the cemetery

http://www.alsirat.com/silence/cemtime/index.html
a timeline of cemetery related events or significant events dealing with death

http://cemetery.virtualug.com/index.html
a company that offers services for mapping many items within a cemetery for use in the computer. 3d and 2d services available both below grade and above grade without disturbing the grounds (see below for inside of brochure).

Finally.....pt 1 (3/15 revisited)

After numerous challenges and setbacks I am able to get back online with minimal interruptions.

I have broken my posts into two separate posts to revisit our conversation from March 15th and the second constitutes interesting facts and personal thoughts on concepts and historical information regarding cemeteries....

3/15:redux

Our typical marathon discussions were renewed this night as we began to address the audience we would be targeting and what concepts may be explored through these groups. We found there were two broad groups to isolate subjects from within. First, are the people on campus. These people may use the cemetery for a multitude of purposes or view it as an alternative. The notion of the alternative was primarily seen as efficiency of travel, however, there may be those that have other uses for it that fall outside the typical notions of the cemetery. The second group are the users. Within this group we were able to break it down further. There are those that are not seen and might leave artifacts and those that are seen and might leave artifacts. In the end, the following list constitutes the groups we chose from:

-The dead
-Loved ones of the dead (both local and distant)
-Those who pass through or cut through
-Those who pass by
-----via car
-----via walking
-----via bike
-Loved ones moving through the cemetery
-Those intrigued by the cemetery (morbid curiosity/fascination)
-Workers
-----grounds upkeep/maintenance
-----day to day operations (sales, hr, accounting/billing, management, etc)
-Adjacent participants (coexist but don't know or care it is there)
-----Law
-----Art and Design
-----ACES
-----Architecture
-----Athletics
-----etc.

Subject rather than audience: The landscape
-----real topography
-----topography of the monuments
-----planning

Specific discussion of subject: The Groundskeeper

There were three topics that arose when discussing the groundskeeper; first, there are the stories. These might be his personal stories, those that may be made up and attributed to the dead and there are the actual true stories of the individuals. Next, the groundskeeper ends up becoming the nexus of everyone. He/she deals with those that work at the main office, he/she works the grounds, he/she deals with the various artifacts (waste or memorial), and he/she bears witness to many of the groups we discussed. The question, then, is what is the viewpoint of this individual? Are they passive and uncaring about the lives of these people? Are they active and very aware of the stories and interconnections? What are we assuming that is eitehr true or false?

Specific discussion of subject: The Passersby

We felt that many of the passersby understand the space of the cemetery and the concept of what occurs and how to interact with it, however, we guess that the majority of these people have no clue about the history of the site nor the individuals contained within.

Conceptually:
-There is an interesting contrast of the lives that move within and around against those that have become "stopped inertia" (once moving and now static).
-Juxtapositions
-----movement/stasis
-----caring/uncaring
-----interactive/passive
-Harmony
-----breakdown of class/racial divisions/workers in the end they are all virtually the same
-Romanticism: there is a romantic view of the cemetery and the sentiments that each individual carries within

In the end we decided to investigate the groundskeeper and the passersby/those that cut through. We were extremely interested in the idea of the groundskeeper representing the nexus, that which all else revolves and the contrast of the individuals that pass by with no or little consideration for the site and its activity. As with our other projects we are trying to maintain an unbiased opinion of these groups and will wait to see where the actual events and ideas take us.

UIUC Southern Expansion Planning Data

..

The land that the south farms now occupy is going to be developed by the University in a business park fashion. There will be few parking garages and large expanses of asphalt. The only facilities that will be of interest to the average student [circulating through or around the cemetery] will be a hotel and conference center, olympic sports stadium, and an academic administration building. It could even be argued that the average student will use none of these [hence the groundskeeper's statement dismissing our speculations].

The buildings will be built by UIUC [leaving them with a mortgage payment] and loaned to occupants on 50 or 100 year loans [typ.]. Tenants will pay this loan and will not have to pay a property tax [as UIUC does not pay any]. With this formula there will be no profit made by the university [to go towards tuition, renovations, etc.]

The grade drops some 30 feet from St. Mary's Road to its southern border, the southernmost superblock resides in a 100 year floodplain.

The original planning for the south farm expansion included a links style golf course. This was dismissed because of the extreme chemicals necessary for golf course grooming. A local watershed board observed that all of this runoff would end up in the river that runs to the south.

Interview with Jim Hudson Family Service Manager

Please click the following links to download the MP3s from the interview.

Interview with Jim Hudson

Reference to Abraham Lincoln

Please feel free to share your ideas, comments and opinions you have about the interview.

The Quest for an expert...the Cemetery Description(Click Images to Enlarge)

Bicycle

Al loosing it...

Greatest UIUC Athlete in History Eddleman (Front)

Greatest UIUC Athlete in History Eddleman (Back)

Champaign County Soldiers Monument Association

Car

You can almost picture and hear the Bugler

Family Service Manager Jim Hudson

Jewish Tomb visited by the Jewish Community

Huff

You can hear and remember the Horse Shoer

Expensive Tomb

Mausoleums

Different Granite Mausoleums

Kinley Nitches

Joggers

Potters Field

Old Military Grave Stone

Al being absorbed by the Nitch

Nature overcoming the Tomb stone

Typical Mausoleums

Military Tombstone Quote

Memorial Monument

US Marine Corps

Korea War

Hospital Steward Tombstone

Vietnam

US Air Force Tombstone

PVT Private US Army Tombstone

PFC Private First Class US Army Tombstone

Mexican War

Al, Nikita and Alejandro Cemetery visits (Click Images to Enlarge)

Tradition

Amazing Grand Tombstone

Unacceptable Gatorade Paper Glass Polluting Cemetery

360º View of the Cemetery


Awesome Big Tomb

Very interesting family burial ground. One member recently deceased. You can see it on the layout of the grass. Also you can see how the family members remembered the deceased birthday and brought a balloon that said: "Happy Birthday Daddy" suggesting that the kids haven´t forgotten their father.

Different template of a tombstone...counting the number of years the person lived.

Very Big Place in the Cemetery were we think an important person is buried.

Identifying Subjects

The Groundskeeper: The groundskeeper will be our expert for this project. We will want to interview the groundskeeper to find out about the site. I imagine that he/she would have many stories about who is buried there and what type of people visit or pass through the space. They would also have more concrete information as to where people are buried, who can be buried there and what the different types of tombs mean. The groundskeeper is a person who exists in the cemetery and moves about it everyday. They will have a unique perspective on the site and on death. We will ask questions about traditions, etiquette, respect,emotion, memory and space as it relates to death or working with the dead. The knowledge of the groundskeeper is more reflective of a collective memory than any other visitor to the space. The loved ones who visit the deceased know the cemetery in a very unique and personal memory of it.

The Passer Through: This group is represented mainly by college students. The people passing through tend to use the space as a short cut to get to the various athletic facilities just south of Florida avenue. There is an odd contrast between those at the end of their lives with those in peak physical condition. The people passing through don't seem to acknowledge the weight of the space. The cemetery exists in the periphery of their everyday path. The cemetery is the destination we all must reach at some point. The passer through is using this instead as a transitional space. Although the grave stones mark an event, the memories of this site are not accessible to the people moving through.

We are interested in exploring the differences in these two groups. The contrast between the local collective memory (groundskeeper) and the temporary collective memory (passer through) have interesting parallels to short-term and long-term memory of a society and a physical site.