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KCA SEPTEMBER 21 MEETING WILL FOCUS ON HISTORIC GRAVESITES IN PIERCE PARK http://www.kaloramacitizens.org/newsletters/files/kca%5Fnews%5F2006%5F09.pdf The KCA will kick off its 2006-2007 series of monthly membership meetings on Sept. 21st . Our special guest will be Professor Mark Mack, a biological anthropologist at Howard University, who will address the meeting on an ongoing research project on the unmarked African-American cemeteries located in Walter Pierce Park. Be sure to attend this meeting to learn more of the history of this area and its society before subdivision and development began. KCA Zoning and Historic Preservation Chair Ann Hargrove will give the final wrap-up on the successful conclusion of the Washington Heights Historic District project. I hope to see you for what I know will be an informative meeting about an important topic. When: Thursday, September 21, 2006, 7:00 pm Where: Good Will Baptist Church, 1862 Kalorama Road, NW (near Columbia Road – go up main steps and bear right to rear side door). As usual, refreshments will be served. –Denis James ARCHEOLOGIST MARK MACK TO SPEAK ON WALTER PIERCE PARK CEMETERIES PROJECT Biological anthropologist Mark Mack of Howard University will be the featured speaker at our Sept. 21 meeting. He will describe plans for archeological research of the almost forgotten, unmarked cemeteries in Walter C. Pierce Community Park. Professor Mack, an expert on African-American cemeteries, will lead a small team of Howard University students this semester in a pedestrian, or "walk-over" archeological survey of the park, which was the site of the Colored Union Benevolent Association Cemetery from 1870 to 1890, as well as Washington's first Quaker Burial Ground, founded in 1807. This exacting, non-invasive survey will determine the extent of the cemeteries and the location of any vulnerable remains and/or grave goods. Students will also develop information about the men, women and children who were buried there. Last summer, when the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) planned to undertake a soil erosion mitigation project in Pierce Park, community residents pleaded with city officials to delay or curtail their major earth-moving plans because unmarked graves might be disturbed. Since that time, records have been found showing that at least 7,000 burials took place in the Colored Union cemetery, making the need for an archeological study even greater. Since then, DPR has delayed and downsized its plans in response to community concerns. Before becoming the Interim Curator of Howard University's Cobb Laboratory, Professor Mack was the Laboratory Director of the now-completed New York African Burial Ground Project, which opened New Yorkers' eyes to the broad extent of slavery in early Manhattan. In land size and density of graves, the 6.75-acre Colored Union cemetery at Pierce Park is remarkably similar to the New York African Burial Ground, although the New York site was used at an earlier time. KCA is leading the effort to provide funding and other support to the Howard team. If you would like to contribute to the project, you can either write a taxdeductible check to KCA, (noting: Pierce Park Archeology Project) and send to KCA, P.O. Box 21311, Wash. DC 20009, or use PayPal or a credit card at: www.kaloramacitizens.org/ join Scroll down to the pull-down menu and click on Pierce Park Archeology Project. – Mary Belcher is chairperson of the KCA Holt House Preservation Task Force and KCA's community liaison to the Howard University team. Questions? Call Mary at: 202-462-9069 or email her at maryjbelcher@comcast.net. -- Matthew Gilmore H-DC list co-editor, web editor Vice President, Networks -- H-Net dc-edit@mail.h-net.msu.edu http://www.h-net.org/~dclist/ [list website] http://www.h-net.org/hcalendar/month.php?user=H-DC [calendar] http://www.h-net.org/lists/subscribe.cgi?list=H-DC [subscribe to H-DC] Remember to check http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=lm&list=h-dc for past list messages.
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