Odd Fellows Cemetery Event
Where: Odd Fellows Cemetery
When: Saturday, March 8, 10 am-2 pm
An Invitation from Katherine Ambroziak:
Most of you have probably heard about the Odd Fellows Cemetery and Potters Field Rehabilitation Project, and many of you have been involved in some aspect of research or volunteer service. For those of you who aren’t familiar, I provide the following background information, focusing specifically on Odd Fellows: Odd Fellows Cemetery is an historic African-American burial ground in East Knoxville which lost its ownership in the 1920s. Since then it has had very sporadic upkeep and during a period in the 60s and 70s became so overgrown that it lost recognition as a cemetery. In the 80s, the City stepped in and cleared the undergrowth and started scheduling periodic lawn maintenance… very, very sporadic. Currently on average, there may be 3 or 4 mowings per year. The typical summer scene is weeds growing up 3 or more feet in the sunny areas, totally obscuring the headstones and sparse flowering plants. I’ve been working with a grass root organization, the Knoxville Re-Animation Coalition, since 2008 and together with the community and city have developed a master plan proposal to rehabilitate the cemetery as an interactive memorial landscape. (The overgrowth issue is one of several that the project addresses.) The process involved a lot of brainstorming and design, meetings with community members, and academic and volunteer actions by UT students. Besides the master plan design, we have also been involved in a cemetery survey, ceremony studies, design-build of two proposals for the cemetery demarcation wall (Matt Hall’s class), and the construction of an earthen berm to allow for safe passage by the neighboring residents. Brad Collett has joined the efforts and has been greatly involved in work related to landscape design and erosion issues. We are taking a lot of baby steps, making sure the community stays involved, and celebrating all the good will. The steps are starting to add up and people are taking notice of the work, especially that of student volunteers. Now we are starting a campaign to address the weed/lawn problem. We received a grant from the city and a few private donations that will help us rent equipment and purchase grass seed, but we are in true need of a volunteer force to get the work done. Our first task is the hardest - kill and remove the existing ground vegetation. The cemetery is immense, so we are limiting our scope of attention to just over an acre of land in the western portion. This area receives quite a bit of sun and is highly visible. We will be renting a sod cutter and will be scraping the ground with shovels, piling the soil debris along the edges for pick-up, and then, as areas are laid bare, slit seeding perennial grasses and covering with straw. This is going to take a lot a lot a lot of hands and strong arms to get the work done - but the pay-off will be huge. Once the seed is planted and takes root, the area will be more sustainable and the infrequent mowings will be more efficient. Headstones will not be hidden and will sustain less damage. Conditions of erosion and standing water will be more easily addressed. Second stage garden planting will be able to occur. And disenfranchised residents from the surrounding neighborhoods will see the respect and hope we all share in their cultural landscape.