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Final Resting Places: Preserving Local Historic Graveyards
However, Norfolk city policy does not cover headstones, burial markers and tombs, and other decorative features of graves as these are considered private property. So if they are vandalized or stolen by thieves or fall or are damaged by an “an act of God” related to weather, the city is not obligated to repair or replace them.
Recently, Norfolk’s Bureau of Cemeteries has been seeking to drum up community interest in the cultural importance of its cemeteries, including the historic Calvary.
An example of this effort occurred on February 27, when the city held a forum to recruit residents to help preserve these historic sites. Promotional material distributed prior to the event noted, “ Mausoleums, monuments, sculptures, and tombs at the city’s various historic cemeteries are disappearing as a result of vandalism, weathering and the ravages of time.”
“The Bureau of Cemeteries needs your help to restore and preserve these outdoor museums for future generations.”
On March 24, the Bureau of Cemeteries will host an open house and tour of the current Calvary Cemetery starting at 10 to noon. A similar event was scheduled early in February but Bureau of Cemetery officials said it was canceled for “lack of interest.”
The event will be an opportunity for African Americans and Norfolk residents, in general, to visit a site where a good portion of the city’s deceased are buried, including some of the most celebrated and accomplished African Americans.
According to the Truitt Bonney, the Friends of Norfolk Historic Cemeteries (FNHC), began the task 18 years ago of helping the city preserve the history and architectural importance of its eight historical burial sites.
The FNHC has held fundraisers, prints a newsletter which it sends out to the 700 people on its mailing list alerting them of the organization’s activities and stimulating support for its efforts. The FNHC has helped to restore and resurrect a number of damaged tombs and burial obelisks at Elmwood Cemetery.
“The city’s tight budget hampers its ability to take care of the toppled headstones or headstones which have been pushed over by weather or vandals,” said Bonney. “So we try to raise funds and recruit support for people to take a personal interest in the sites because they are burial sites of their loved ones and because a lot of our community’s history rests in them.”
Bonney said before the city took control of cemeteries, Black and White residents used to organize their communities to maintain graveyards.
“We only do it on Memorial Day now, but people used to go to the sites and hold social gatherings,” said Bonney. “These social gatherings were designed to visit the dead. During the Victorian era, we believed that the dead were only asleep and we had a responsibility to go and visit them in slumber.”
Bonney said many of the grave sites have eroded because of age and since the city’s policy deems the headstones as private property, it cannot maintain them. Many families have “died out”, she said, and there is no one to take personal care of them.
During the event on March 24, Fannie Fulcher plans on serving a taste of New Orleans style culture. It is a tradition that Dixieland bands are featured in the funeral procession and serenade the deceased relatives after the burial.
Fulcher said she hopes to enlist members of the Shout Band of the House of Prayer of Norfolk to provide some music loud enough to “wake up the dead.”
Fulcher has already had her headstone delivered to the plot where she will be buried next to her parents and siblings.
“I think is very important that people do their best to maintain and clean their loved-ones graves,” said Fulcher. “It should be a tradition and ritual which we should pass on to future generations. We owe that much respect to our loved ones and to the community they served while they were living.”
For more information about the upcoming Open House and Tour of Calvary Cemetery, call 757-441-2654.
