OCONEE HILL CEMETERY: ENVISIONING A LIVING LANDSCAPE by JUDSON SHEPPARD ABBOTT (Under the Direction of Eric MacDonald) ABSTRACT Oconee Hill Cemetery is an important historic landscape in the city of Athens, Georgia. However, management issues during the past decades have decreased its relevance to the local community. This thesis seeks to discover appropriate strategies to improve the current management approach at the cemetery. In order to do this, the thesis explores important background information such as the landscape’s historical context, its current management structure, and current management issues. It also studies the opinions and values of current managers and cemetery visitors. Finally, it reviews successful management models that other cemetery management teams have adopted. By overlaying these threads of information, the thesis isolates a number of appropriate and feasible strategies for Oconee Hill’s future management. Included in these recommendations are changes to the cemetery’s current management structure, an increased focus on public outreach, and the adoption of a master plan. INDEX WORDS: Oconee Hill Cemetery, Rural Cemetery Movement, Cemetery Management, Public Access, Cemetery Preservation, Public Outreach OCONEE HILL CEMETERY: ENVISIONING A LIVING LANDSCAPE by JUDSON SHEPPARD ABBOTT A.B., The University of Georgia, 2005 Kandidat, The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden, 2010 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE ATHENS, GEORGIA 2012 © 2012 Judson Sheppard Abbott All Rights Reserved OCONEE HILL CEMETERY: ENVISIONING A LIVING LANDSCAPE by JUDSON SHEPPARD ABBOTT Major Professor: Eric MacDonald Committee: Katherine Melcher James Reap Dexter Adams Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia August 2012 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to recognize the tremendous contribution that Dr. Eric MacDonald has made to this project. His instruction has served not only as a valuable guide in shaping this thesis, but also as an inspiration throughout graduate school. I would also like to thank the remaining members of my reading committee, Katherine Melcher, James Reap, and Dexter Adams, for sharing of their time and energy in the final stages of the project. Finally, I would like to thank Charlotte Marshall, the Oconee Hill Board of Trustees and the Friends of Oconee Hill Cemetery for their enthusiasm and support for this study, and for their care of the landscape at Oconee Hill. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................iv LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................1 Background .........................................................................................................1 State of Current Research.....................................................................................3 Research Questions..............................................................................................9 Research Limitations and Delimitations.............................................................10 Research Methods..............................................................................................12 Thesis Structure .................................................................................................15 2 HISTORICAL CONTEXT: THE RURAL CEMETERY MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES...................................................................................................17 J.C. Loudon and the Rural Cemetery Movement................................................18 Sanitation Issues ................................................................................................19 Cemetery Placement Outside of Cities ...............................................................20 Changing Attitudes toward Death ......................................................................22 The Cemetery as Cultural Institution..................................................................23 The Use of Vegetation in Rural Cemeteries........................................................25 Rural Cemeteries as “Pleasure Grounds”............................................................27 v Southern Rural Cemeteries.................................................................................28 3 PAST AND PRESENT USES AND PERCEPTIONS OF OCONEE HILL CEMETERY ...........................................................................................................30 The Creation and First Years of Oconee Hill Cemetery: 1854-1857 ...................30 Positive Public Responses and Attitudes toward Oconee Hill: 1858-1897 ..........35 Shifting Public Perceptions of Oconee Hill: 1898-1909......................................39 Growing Management Challenges: 1909-Present ...............................................43 Chapter Summary ..............................................................................................49 4 OCONEE HILL CEMETERY’S MANAGEMENT TEAM.....................................50 The Oconee Hill Cemetery Board of Trustees ....................................................50 The Friends of Oconee Hill Cemetery................................................................54 The Sexton and Grounds Crew...........................................................................57 Chapter Summary ..............................................................................................60 5 STUDY OF CURRENT VISITORS TO OCONEE HILL CEMETERY..................61 Age and Residency of Survey Respondents........................................................61 Visitors’ Interests and Visitation Frequency.......................................................64 Visitors’ Use of Oconee Hill..............................................................................66 What Visitors Like about Oconee Hill................................................................67 User-Suggested Opportunities for Improvements ...............................................69 How Welcoming is Oconee Hill?.......................................................................70 Public Attitudes about Cemetery Access and Preservation .................................71 Levels of Appropriateness for Future Community Events ..................................74 Concluding Remarks..........................................................................................77 vi 6 CURRENT MANAGEMENT AT OCONEE HILL: KEY ISSUES ........................79 Vandalism at Oconee Hill ..................................................................................80 Public Access and Security ................................................................................82 Communication with the Public .........................................................................88 Cemetery Finances and Grounds Maintenance ...................................................89 Appropriate Future Activities.............................................................................93 Preservation Goals...........................................................................................100 Concluding Remarks........................................................................................101 7 SEARCHING FOR A MODEL: MANAGEMENT IDEAS FROM OTHER HISTORIC CEMETERIES....................................................................................103 Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia.............................................................104 Davis Cemetery District in Davis, California ...................................................112 Concluding Remarks........................................................................................118 8 RECOMMENDATIONS AND DISCUSSION......................................................120 Changes to Management Structure...................................................................121 Improved Community Outreach.......................................................................126 Adopting a Formal Plan for the Future.............................................................132 Conclusion.......................................................................................................134 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................138 APPENDICES A QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY OF VISITORS TO OCONEE HILL CEMETERY 143 B INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR MANAGEMENT TEAM INTERVIEWS ..................145 vii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1.1: Study boundaries with UGA campus to the west and Carr’s Hill to the east.............11 Figure 3.1: Original cemetery property including East and West Hill ........................................32 Figure 3.2: Monuments in family plot on East Hill. ..................................................................34 Figure 3.3: Image of Oconee River, 1919...................................................................................36 Figure 3.4: Part of 1874 map of Athens, Georgia showing Oconee Cemetery to city’s south .....38 Figure 3.5: Image from 1924 showing a wreath on a grave at Oconee Hill ................................40