FRIENDS OF HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY NEWS FROM FRIENDS OF HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY NONPROFIT ORG. 412 South Cherry Street U.S. POSTAGE Richmond, Virginia 23220 PAID PERMIT NO. 671 23232 A Gateway Into History WWW.HOLLYWOODCEMETERY.ORG SPRING 2021 • VOLUME 12, NUMBER 1 Restoration Continues Friends Undertakes Three New Projects riends of Hollywood Cemetery has initiated a overlooking Westvale Avenue. “Within, and without, these fundraising campaign that will provide for restorations walls rest members of the family of Col. John Harvie, involvingF the Harvie Plot, the Lawn, and iron fencing in 1742-1807,” reads a plaque. Section K. “Each of these priority projects involve historically significant parts of the cemetery that have fallen into disrepair with the passage of time,” said Kelly Wilbanks, the nonprofit’s Executive Director. “We hope to bring them back to their full glory with the help of our supporters.” Fundraising is already underway thanks to gifts totaling $42,500 from the Richard & Caroline T. Gwathmey Trust and the Windsor Foundation Trust to support the renovation of the Harvie Plot. Brick wall around Col. John Harvie family plot to be repointed The Harvie Plot ($150,000) The section is made up of 12 large family lots where nearly 100 Harvie family members are buried including The Harvie Plot pre-dates the creation of Hollywood Col. Harvie, a signer of the Articles of Confederation and and includes a brick walled-in area, visible on a hill the Bill of Rights and lifelong friend of Thomas Jefferson; his wife, Mary, the daughter of Chief Justice John Marshall; and their son, Jaquelin. “Hollywood purchased 43 acres from the Harvie family to develop the cemetery. One contingency of the sale was that Hollywood would maintain the Harvie burial grounds that were part of the land purchase,” said David Gilliam, Hollywood’s General Manager. Currently, the plot is hidden away, and visitors enter it by way of dilapidated steps. The $150,000 project will create a safer entry and help the plot stand out more. Current entrance to the Harvie plot area (continued on page 2) New Van Yahres John Hollywood Friends Restoration Tree Moncure Cradle Contributors Projects Company Daniel Graves (as of April 8, 2021) A new fountain comes to life in the restored Glade section Pages 1-3 Pages 4-5 Pages 6-7 Pages 8-9 Pages 10-11 Credit: Bill Draper Photography Gifts In Kind Ann and Barry Leonard Mary and George Gamble Corporations, Mr. and Mrs. Ronald W. Harris Anonymous New Projects (continued) Bill Draper Photography Foundations and Ms. Connie Hilker, Hartwood Roses Timothy C. McCoy Joseph H. Hart Hollywood Cemetery Company Carrington Williams, Jr. Mrs. Virginia Hart Organizations Emily S. and Coleman A. Hunter Trust Plans include adding a cobblestone pavement on the road Nelson D. Lankford, Ph.D Emory G. William Gray Holdings, LLC to mark the entrance, resetting the stairs and adding a Sharon Pajka, Ph.D Mrs. Dabney Williams McCoy Gifts In Honor Hollywood Cemetery Company handrail, improving and extending a cobble retaining Mr. Donald Toney The Gray Family Wendy Gentz Chapin Anonymous Nelsen Funeral Home wall, repairing the brick walled enclosure, and installing a Mrs. Mabel Toney Mrs. Elizabeth G. Hull Roller-Bottimore Foundation new plaque. All Souls at rest at Hollywood Michael B. Huntley Woody Funeral Home Gifts In Memory Mr. William A. Harrison, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Brockenbrough Lamb, Jr. Mrs. Anna Konrad We have made every effort to “We feel it is time to call attention to this area of the Mr. and Mrs. William B. Adamson Joe and Peggy Benedetti Alwilda Valentine create an accurate list of our cemetery,” said Gilliam. Mr. Matt Benedetti Ms. Catherine Farmer supporters. Should there be an error, please let us know. The Lawn ($150,000) Located near Davis Circle, and overlooking the river, the Just in time for spring and summer, a new exhibit – Breathing Places: Parks Lawn is a familiar site to visitors. The area is home to & Recreation in Richmond – opens at the Branch lot, with its dramatic sculpture of a mourning the Valentine on May 5! woman leaning against a cross; the grave of Japanese businessman Tokukichiro Abe; and numerous mausoleums In 1851, Richmond’s Committee on set into the hillside, including those of the Sauer, Robins, Public Squares recommended “securing and Gray families. In the middle, an elliptical area is Current concrete walkways breathing places in the midst of the divided by concrete sidewalks. “This was the first section in the cemetery in which city...” Since then, the region has developed “breathing places” for some this design was implemented. It was a step away from residents while limiting and denying having granite borders around lots and numerous upright access to others. Breathing Places monuments within the lot,” said Gilliam. This was explores the design, use and change meant to streamline the look of one’s family plot, so it of Richmond’s carefully crafted parks, was uncluttered and made perpetual care easier for the recreation areas and natural spaces and cemetery. their effect on the region’s residents today. The $150,000 project will provide for the removal of the For more information, see https:// old sidewalks, the restoration of the walkway to a grass thevalentine.org/exhibition/breathing- path, and the addition of granite curbs and cobblestone places-parks-recreation-in-richmond/ paving to tie in the Lawn with more recently renovated sections of the cemetery. To meet the demand for more burial sites, 230 cremation niches will be installed in the Entrance to Hollywood Cemetery postcard, ca. 1905, V.2019.04.621, The Valentine area by Hollywood Cemetery Company. 2021 2021 Administrative Staff Officers and Directors Officers and Directors Hollywood Cemetery Company Friends of Hollywood Cemetery Hollywood Cemetery Company David L. Gilliam – General Manager Edward M. Farley, IV – Chair E. Bryson Powell – President Woodrow C. Harper – Assistant General David L. Gilliam – Secretary William R. Claiborne – Vice President Manager William R. Claiborne – Treasurer David L. Gilliam – Secretary and Mabel E. Toney – Administrative Assistant General Manager Kristina Coonley – Assistant View of the Lawn at Hollywood Mary Lynn Bayliss, PhD Woodrow C. Harper – Treasurer Cheryl Knaut – Assistant Elizabeth Rawles Cronly Mabel E. Toney – Assistant Secretary and “To me, it is ironic that a sidewalk was installed in a Joseph R. Herbert Assistant Treasurer section called the Lawn. It is the only section in the J. Mason New cemetery where the walkways were not left as grass,” said E. Bryson Powell Edward M. Farley, IV Gilliam. Elizabeth W. Talley Matthew D. Jenkins Rendering of new cobblestone apron and grass walkways Peter C. Toms Elizabeth Cabell Jennings The Lawn was created in 1893 with a stipulation common Nelson D. Lankford, PhD in modern cemeteries of the time: Each plot could have Finally, an existing water feature and planting will be Kelly Jones Wilbanks, Executive Director Evelina M. Scott only one upright monument with the family’s name; removed, allowing space for sculpture, new plantings, or Nancy B. Rowe, Development Associate Fred T. Tattersall the rest of the markers had to be flush to the ground to additional burial sites. E. Massie Valentine, Jr. designate individual burial spaces. (continued on page 3) FRIENDS OF HOLLYWOOD Page 2 SPRING 2021 FRIENDS OF HOLLYWOOD Page 11 SPRING 2021 2021 Contributors to Friends of Hollywood Cemetery New Projects (continued) We are indeed grateful to the following donors for their generous support of Friends through April 8, 2021. You have enabled us to raise awareness of Restoration of Iron Fences in Section K ($275,000) Robert Chase, who is the principal of the Richmond-based Hollywood and to continue vital monument and fence restoration. Thank you for helping us to preserve Hollywood Cemetery for generations to come. firm Chase Architectural Metal. Approximately 10% of According to Gilliam, the cemetery began a project to the ironwork will be recast. preserve and restore iron fencing in the early 1990’s. Edward M. Farley, IV Funding in recent years has enabled the cemetery to Each fence section weighs about 250-300 pounds and had Chair, Friends of Hollywood Cemetery continue this restoration. to be brought to the studio and back on flat-bed trucks and trailers, then carted to the site on ATVs. The 1847 Society Mr. Robert Nelson, Jr. Mr. William A. Harrison, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Riopelle Mrs. Virginia Hart Mr. and Mrs. William B. Adamson The cemetery has recently turned its attention to Section K, the site of the first burial in Hollywood following its The funding will support the restoration of 655 feet of Presidents Circle Megan and Jimmy Rose Charitable Mr. Bernard L. Henderson, Jr. Ms. Micaella Brown iron fencing as well as stonework in sections 77-92 of Fund * Mr. and Mrs. John Cameron Hoggan, Jr. Mrs. Harold M. Burrows, Jr. establishment. Located near Presidents Circle, Section K Hollywood Cemetery Company the Womble plot. Some of that fencing has significant Mr. and Mrs. William R. Shands, Jr. Mrs. Elizabeth G. Hull Ms. Sarah Butler also stands out for its ornate cast iron fencing—part of a Roller-Bottimore Foundation deterioration and is missing four gates, nine finials, and Mr. and Mrs. Fred T. Tattersall Ms. Elizabeth L. Keller Ms. Sharon Carter plan to boost sales in 1854. Founders Circle Mr. and Mrs. Zach Toms, III John T. Kneebone, PhD and Kc Cataldi numerous posts. Dr. Elizabeth Roderick Emily S. and Coleman A. Hunter Trust Ned and Laura Valentine Family Fund * Mr. Charles W. Craig, III According to John O. Peters in his book Richmond’s Mr. and Mrs. E. Massie Valentine, Jr. Ms. Anna Konrad Mrs. Donna M. Galloway Funds will also provide for the restoration of “the opulent Heritage Circle Dr.