Association for the Preservation of Historic Congressional Cemetery • Summer 2009 Storm Drain to Relieve Flooding Eradication of Congressional Congressional Cemetery’s storm Cemetery’s invasive English ivy water management system is a fairly is one of the high priorities straightforward chain of cobblestone for Emily Crandall’s Green swales, brick catch basins, and a Thumb volunteers. While some drainage ditch, all built in the 1890s. Green Thumbs offer TLC to the Being an open-air system, it catches gardens they tend, the Ivy League not only rainwater but grass clip- teams are on the forefront pings, autumn leaves, and anything of search and else that floats in its network. Main- destroy mis- tenance of the system is critical to its sions for operation; clogged waterways don’t ivy. Clippers drain. Sometime over the last hun- in hand, the dred years, the system stopped being Green Thumbs maintained. pinch, pull, and pry continued on 8 the offending invader plants from our oaks and maples, off marble gravestones, and out of the struggling shrubs. Not only does ivy abound in the gardens, stone carvers seem to favor ivy. Maybe the resilience of the plant makes it an attractive symbol of life, death, and renewal. It’s easy to grow, stays green all year, and comes back after a harsh winter or scorching summer. Ivy is low-maintenance, fast-growing, and seemingly eternal. Perfect for a graveyard! But don’t let a real gardener catch continued on 9 RIGHT : Coty Dooley plays a newsboy (far right) and Jamie Sledge plays Cranston Lurie, the host of HCC’s Lincoln Bicentennial Performance Tour, Lincoln’s Last Day: A Theatrical Walk Through History, performed in April and May at the Cemetery. www.congressionalcemetery.org Association for the Preservation of Historic Congressional Cemetery Community • Leadership • Discovery! BOARD O F DIRE C TORS Patrick Crowley, Chair George Chamberlain Linda Harper, Vice Chair Emily Crandall John Gillespie, Treasurer Jan Gaudio Alice Norris, Secretary Clyde Henderson APHCC Chairman Patrick Crowley addresses members of Rolling Thunder on Memorial Day. The Scott Kibler Amy Ballard Patti Martin vets laid wreaths at an unknown soldier’s grave and the Arsenal Monument. Ted Bechtel Joyce Palmer Uwe Brandes Rhonda Sincavage FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE Linda Harper, Chair HORTI C ULTURE COMMITTEE Emily Crandall, Fine Gardening A Community That Cares Ted Bechtol, Lawn Care I remember when my family had some people come back every day. EDU C ATION AND OUTREA ch COMMITTEE Joyce Palmer, Music and Docents milk delivered to the back door Others come to volunteer and bring Sandy Schmidt, Web Master of our home outside Chicago by a back 30 to 50 friends for a day of Patrick Crowley, Newsletter AR ch IVES AND GENEALOGY COMMITTEE milkman whose truck was laden volunteer work. It’s a shared space Sandy Schmidt, Genealogy with huge blocks of ice. On hot where we’ve built a community Dayle Dooley, Archives PLANNING COMMITTEE summer days, we’d chase him that cares, that gives back an inner Ted Bechtol down the block begging for chips joy because we connect with others Uwe Brandes Emily Crandall of ice. If we couldn’t break the ice over shared goals and accomplish- Jan Gaudio into smaller chunks, we’d pass it ments. It’s a wonderful place. Scott Kibler K-9 COMMITTEE around like a community ice cream But operating this wonderful Patti Martin cone. This memory survives from place and coordinating the scores of STA ff quite a long time back; what makes activities each month requires staff, Cindy Hays, Executive Director Alan Davis, Cemetery Manager it so powerful? Why do we cherish and staff has to be paid. In these Dayle Dooley, Archives Rebecca Roberts, Programs Director these kinds of memories? difficult economic times, donations Mary Wright, Office Manager If I may hazard a guess, I are down for non-profits every- would say it’s because it’s grounded where. So too with Congressional. HERITAGE GAZETTE : Summer 2009 in a community experience. My We’ve come a long way pulling on All photos in this issue by Patrick Crowley unless noted otherwise. siblings and friends created a game our boot straps. We’ve expanded DESIGN : Eugenia Kim, Gene Kim Graphics of chasing the milkman. Shared our services, developed new ways of © 2009. Association for the Preservation of experiences and shared spaces exploring our heritage, fired up our Historic Congressional Cemetery. create communities. That’s the repair and restoration efforts, and Postal Service, send address changes to: ASSO C IATION F OR T H E PRESERVATION O F secret to Congressional Ceme- overhauled our internal operations. HISTORI C CONGRESSIONAL CEMETERY tery—we are a community. We have built the foundation to 1801 E Street SE Washington DC 20003 That’s rare for a cemetery. Most support the HCC community and 202-543-0539 • 202-543-5966 fax cemeteries today are experienced we need your help to keep it going. www.congressionalcemetery.org [email protected] as remote places where we drop Please consider making a contribu- off grandma and don’t come back. tion today—give us a chip off the The Association for the Preservation of Historic Congressional Cemetery is a non-profit 501(c)(3) But at Congressional, we’ve created block! m organization. All donations are fully tax deductible a stewardship community where —Patrick Crowley according to applicable federal tax laws 2 Heritage Gazette • summer 2009 www.congressionalcemetery.org Meet Erin Lombard Erin Lombard has joined us for the As we enter the warm summer received a generous grant for resto- summer as an intern working on our months, our activities are centered ration work on our family vaults, archival projects (see her article on upon restoration. Vault contracts but it is not quite enough to com- page 11). An Historic Preservation have been let; utility workers are plete the work on the four in most major, this fall she will begin her digging deep ditches to bury large trouble. We are taking a gamble junior year at the University of Mary drain pipes to eliminate flooding that we can raise an additional Washington, in Fredericksburg, in the east end; we prepare for $18,500 to finish the fourth—the Virginia. the formal City Council hearing Jesse Williams family vault. She will have wonderful tales to deed us G Street and the city’s When we restore family vaults, from the crypt to take back to school right-of-way that lays within the we ask the Smithsonian Institute with her in the fall. m cemetery grounds; and fireproof team of archeologists and anthro- filing cabinets are on the way to pologists, led by Douglas Omsley JOSEPH ANTHONY protect and preserve old cemetery and Laurie Burgess, to assist us in records. protection or temporary removal H ORNE, LIBR From the mid-1800s through of any remains. In preparation for the first quarter of the 1900s, the that, summer intern Erin Lombard A RY OF CONGRESS Cemetery was more than a burial is performing a survey of interments ground. The beautiful park-like set- and disinterments in each vault. By ting welcomed families for picnics, comparing the “Vault Book,” which long walks, and even weddings. has been maintained by Cemetery Since that time, however, we have managers since 1829, with the lost hundreds of trees and shrubs, Interment and Account books, Flower vendors cluster at the gate of Congressio- leaving areas of the cemetery Erin is making a definitive list of nal Cemetery on Memorial Day in 1943. who still remains in each of our 22 H barren. To help us recreate the CC A CC R C former splendor, HCC has hired vaults and 17 mausoleums. HI V ES ? the nationally renowned landscape Lots of good things are hap- design firm Oehme van Sweden pening at Historic Congressional to develop a plan for future burial Cemetery. Come see us, and I hope opportunities and greenscape to you will continue to support our enhance the entire property. mission and our projects. m We are very fortunate to have —Cindy Hays E UGENI A KIM Scenes from earlier years in the Cemetery. Above, 1913. Below, statuary photographed in 1945. The girl statue awaits restoration in the gatehouse. JOSEPH ANTHONY H ORNE, LIBR A RY OF CONGRESS The 1866 Jesse Williams family vault is in need of repair. www.congressionalcemetery.org summer 2009 • Heritage Gazette 3 The dedication of the Docents’ Garden on Sunday, June 14th wel- comed the Cultural Attaché, Embassy of Ireland, Ms. Aiofa McGarry, rosarian Nick Weber, and over 60 contributors to raise “a wee dram” of lemonade to toast the DDDs and the young women who perished in the Civil War Arsenal tragedy in 1864. The Docents raised over $6,000 to create the Rose Garden at the foot of the Arsenal Monument and to install an irrigation system. The Garden is surrounded by a low granite wall etched with names com- A Youngsville, Pennsylvania high school marching band plays at the Sousa site. memorating the donors. The Rose Garden effort was spearheaded by Board Member Emily Crandall. The Marching Bands are Back ! The Arsenal Monument honors Congressional Cemetery is back on part of the DC Cultural Tourism’s 21 women who died in an explosion the agenda for marching bands from annual city-wide tour program. Mid at the munitions assembly workhouse all across America. Last year’s high week, the Adams County Historical at Fort McNair. Ms. McGarry noted gas prices sidelined the travel plans Society from Gettysburg enjoyed that these women were most likely for many high school and commu- a tour highlighting the Civil War fleeing starvation in Ireland during nity bands that normally would have connections between Gettysburg and the Great Famine, when Ireland’s headed east to participate in events in Congressional.