The Association for the Preservation of Historic Congressional Cemetery The Heritage Gazette Winter 2004 Resources Study Completed Annual Sousa Award Presented to Cong. Farr Long Term Restoration Plan Sousa Descendents Join Tribute to March King After a year of intensive historic Congressman Sam Farr was pre- Betty Lee Dunegan, and great, research, conferences, and engi- sented with Congressional Ceme- great nephews, John Pugh and Lex neering analysis, the much antici- tery’s second annual Sousa Award Varela. Mr. Pugh brought along the pated Historic Landscape & Struc- on November 6, 2003 in recogni- baton used by Sousa himself. tures Report is finally complete. tion of his efforts to help preserve In his remarks, Congressman The study, authorized by Congress and restore the historic structures at Farr noted that “Cemeteries are and supervised by the Architect of Congressional. The Public Vault, centers of civilization. They teach the Capitol, is now the long-term built by Congress in Continued on Page 5. master planning document for the 1835, was in dire need future development of Congres- of conservation work sional Cemetery. and, thanks to Con- Managed and directed by the gressman Farr and his architectural firm of Turk, Tracy & staff, is ready to face Larry of Portland, Maine, the study the next hundred years. will be the basis for the conserva- The award cere- tion, restoration, and maintenance mony was followed by of Congressional Cemetery. It ad- a performance by the dresses all aspects of the physical Marine Corps Band in plant: gravestones, trees, buildings, their annual tribute to and roadways. John Philip Sousa. Continued on Page 6. Joining the tribute were Sousa’s great New Visitor Shelter grandson Thomas Al- Scout Earns Eagle on Project bert, great, great niece Boy Scout Derek A. Richardson earned his Eagle Badge this fall A Race Against Time with a construction project at Con- 2004 Vault Restoration Plans gressional. Derek designed, planned, and built a visitors pavil- In the last two years the Association has ion just inside the main gate to re- made great strides in its mandate to preserve place the old bulletin board. and restore the historic markers and struc- Derek hails from Scout Troop tures at Congressional Cemetery. The 2003 1501 of Springfield, Virginia, Restoration Summer program concentrated where he has been a member for on the preservation and restoration of four four years. Derek is following in family vaults, a portion of the brick wall, the footsteps of his older brother and the Public Vault. Over 80 gravestones, Karl, also an Eagle Scout, and marble box tombs, and one brick vault were hopes to follow his folks, Susan repaired during the 2002 program. and Ken, into the Air Force. The Association hopes to continue this Funding was provided by a grant successful program into 2004 with Restora- from Capitol Hill Association of tion Summer II, a second series of vault res- Merchants & Professionals. Derek toration projects. Restoration Summer II will offset the cost of the pavilion by complete the restoration of the north end of soliciting donated materials. He the Slate Carriageway. enlisted seven or eight volunteers Continued restoration success depends on to help raise the structure and fin- your participation. We have twenty five per- ish off details over two weekends cent of the funds in hand but need your help in November. It was a big project- to raise the rest. We are in a race against worthy of an Eagle Badge. Ω time to preserve these structures before the Continued on Page 3. Letter from the Board 2004 Budget & Plans Mea Culpa Testing Our Mettle Modest Gains in Funds Our biography of Robert Mills As 2003 comes to a close, we Our budget for 2004 reflects the incorrectly honored him as archi- can look back on a very success- continued stabilization of our finan- tect of the Patent Office Building. ful year: completion of the His- cial status. The overall operating Although he claimed the distinc- toric Landscape & Structures Re- budget of $207,500 represents modest tion, it rightly belongs to William port, our selection as one of DC’s projected revenue growth over last P. Elliott, who is also interred at 9/11 Memorial Grove sites, a year. The five main sources of reve- Congressional Cemetery. Ω $100,000 vault restoration project, nue are: general donations, dog- another record Grave Yard Sale, walker dues, trust fund disburse- our second Eagle Scout project, ments, site sales, and corporate spon- Board Members ongoing archival collection and sorships. Linda Donavan Harper—Chair documentation, meeting our goal The grounds continue to be a popu- Patrick Crowley—Vice Chair of $50,000 for the Endowment lar spot for Capitol Hill folks to relax Sandy Schmidt—Treasurer Fund, and another year of fantas- and walk their dogs after work. Their Dawn Warfle—Secretary tic and dedicated volunteers. dues translate into revenues of J. Dudley Brown It was also a year of long term $58,500 in donations and fees. Gen- Frederick Davis planning and “visioning.” In a se- eral membership donations are ex- Rev. Judith Davis ries of meetings, the Board began pected to raise $60,000 in the coming Samuel Kilpatrick the process of strategic planning year while our friends at the Kiplin- Farleigh Earhart for our third century. The HL&SR ger Foundation have pledged James Brookshire and the 9/11 Memorial Grove pro- $15,000. Kenneth Eads jects provided vehicles to begin We anticipate site sales to bring in Peter MacPherson discussions about landscape plan- another $30,000 and our disburse- Frank Devlin ning and structures usage. These ments from the Third Century En- issues are naturally influenced by dowment Fund and the National Bank The Association for the Preservation planning for educational and out- Trust should add $45,000 to the of Historic Congressional Cemetery reach programming. budget. The remaining $9,000 is ex- is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. It adds up to a year of concrete pected to come from burials fees, spe- All donations are tax deductible. successes and strategic position- cial events, and tours. ing. But before we trample our On the spending side we’ve ex- ~~~~~~~~~~~ laurels by standing on them too tended our mowing contract with All Operations Chair long, it’s time to look ahead to the Seasons for another year. Mowing Linda Harper tasks that await us in 2004. alone is a $60,000 budget item— To a large extent, 2004 may be almost 30% of the operating budget. Fundraising Chair another year of long-term plan- Jeff Hitchcock and his crew have Jim Brookshire ning. We must begin prioritizing done an outstanding job. We’re very the recommendations of the pleased with their dedication and care Building & Grounds Chair HL&SR, designing the 9/11 Me- of the grounds. Patrick Crowley morial, starting on a landscape The budget also reflects continua- plan, and working on outreach tion of our part-time office manager, Education & Outreach Chair programming. Bill Fecke, and our part-time Sandy Schmidt Continuing and strengthening groundskeeper, Collin Ingraham, for a our on-going programs will build combined $40,000. Staff makes a Cemetery Manager on 2003’s progress. Work on the huge difference in keeping the organi- William Fecke HL&SR recommendations will zation “up and running.” We also continue with the Restoration have the usual operating costs: insur- Newsletter Editor Summer-II program. Fundraising ance, utilities, the annual audit, burial Patrick Crowley for the restoration work, land- costs, and minor repair work. scape plan, and educational pro- This newsletter is an $8,000 item in Web Master gramming will test the mettle of the budget—$2,000 for each quarterly Sandy Schmidt our membership as we reach for issue for printing and mailing (the greater heights and accomplish- writing, editing, and layout are all Groundskeeper ments. volunteer). A corporate or individual Collin Ingraham Progress is always sweeter in sponsor for each issue would be hindsight. We would love to lin- greatly appreciated! Contact ger over our 2003 accomplish- The restoration and preservation The Association for the Preservation of ments a while longer, but big pro- component of the budget, as of this Historic Congressional Cemetery jects await us in 2004 and it’s writing, has $40,000 earmarked for 1801 E Street, Southeast time to get started. As always, it’s Restoration Summer II (see Page 1 Washington, DC 20003 our members’ dedication to his- story). Additional support will help toric preservation that makes pro- fund the rest of the restoration pro- 202-543-0539 gress happen. The burden imme- gram. The board is also looking for 202-543-5966 fax diately ahead makes for sweet support for arboreal replenishment www.congressionalcemetery.org success down the road. programs and for interpretive pro- [email protected] ~ Patrick Crowley. gramming. Ω 2 A New Civil War Research Resource Cemetery Manager’s Notes Congressional Web Site Features 600+ Union Vets Reserve Your Place in History Civil War researchers now have a hours in library archives lay the If you’ve ever desired to rub fantastic new resource for delving foundation for many avenues of re- shoulders with great people from into the endlessly fascinating details search. Sandy’s careful indexing of America’s past—here’s your of the tragic War Between the obituary notices allows for the pull- chance. The Association is again States. The latest addition to Con- ing of data by topic and keyword, selling interment rights for burials gressional Cemetery‘s expansive on- such as “Union Army” veteran. in Congressional Cemetery. Selling line data base is a listing of over 600 Genealogists and Civil War buffs grave sites in an historic cemetery veterans of the Union Army who are alike will be thrilled to find this poses a number of difficulties, so interred at Congressional.