Lesson Plan for Chapter 9: Permanent Reconstruction in Richmond’s Black Cemeteries by Adam Rosenblatt, Erin Hollaway Palmer, and Brian Palmer | A Resource for Instructors

Lesson Plan for Chapter 9: Permanent Reconstruction in Richmond’s Black Cemeteries by Adam Rosenblatt, Erin Hollaway Palmer, and Brian Palmer

We believe that when students visit historic African American cemeteries such as East End and Evergreen, they need the following three things: context, direct experience, and opportunities to reflect. This three-part design incorporates what we know about effective experiential learning and pedagogy. But it also serves as a guide by which cemetery visitors can respectfully be present in a sacred but marginalized burial ground and actively participate in honoring its dead. We do not cast volunteers, especially short-term ones, as saviors of the cemetery or rescuers of forgotten graves. Rather, we ask them to engage with its rich history, form relationships with the place and its people, and ask critical questions.

The first two parts, context and direct experience, generally happen in sequence. At East End, after a brief introduction to the cemetery and its history, visitors would be put to work. There were many tasks for them to help with, which could be adjusted based on age, ability, size of the group, and other factors. During the autumn and winter, conditions were good for clearing new sections and finding graves that were hidden. In spring and summer, often the most urgent task was removing new growth to maintain sections that had already been cleared. Regardless, Brian and Erin tried to give volunteers at least some exposure to all of the activities going on in the cemetery, especially the intimate contact with individual plots that makes volunteering not only a form of beautification or "yard work," but also an act of care.

As volunteers were working, Brian and Erin provided much of the broader context that we explained earlier in this chapter, describing the cemetery's founding, its connections to Richmond's diverse and complex African American social fabric, the reasons for the cemetery's decline, and the ongoing disparities between white and Black cemeteries. If time permitted, they'd lead visitors on a tour, stopping at graves that bring these histories to life. Some of them are the graves of prominent people, such as physician and banker Richard F. Tancil. Dr. Tancil's grave marker bears the tender, short inscription "Well Done," chosen by his wife, who signed it simply "Widow."^[1] Visitors were often stunned to hear that the grave marker they saw is actually a replica that the Friends of East End commissioned after Dr. Tancil's original marker was stolen in 2015.

Other graves Brian and Erin showed to East End visitors do not have the same dramatic history, nor do they belong to history's "notables." Rather, they illustrate the variety of markers people were able to afford, the businesses and civic organizations they belonged to (which often helped make these purchases possible), and the way ordinary people remembered their loved ones. As visitors walked around the cemetery, they saw the work that had been done to reclaim it and the challenge of clearing new sections while also maintaining old ones.

The following are some prompts for reflection, the final pillar of the learning experience, that Brian, Erin, and Adam have developed together. Some of them are appropriate for impromptu oral discussion, but most require some individual time to reflect and write down answers before sharing and group discussion.

If you have any deceased relatives or loved ones, do you know where they are buried? If they did not choose to be buried, or if that is not your cultural or family tradition, what other markers, rituals, or forms of commemoration have they had? Write a list of the laws, financial arrangements, environmental protections, and forms of access that you think have helped enable and protect those burials or other commemorations. It is ok if you are guessing at this point. (Teachers may design a longer assignment where students conduct research on their family's burial/commemoration practices and obtain richer, more accurate information than this initial list. It is also interesting to compare how much individual students know about their family's burial or commemoration practices, whether this has been discussed in their households growing up, and why they think that is or is not the case.) Also list any factors that may have interfered with your relatives' or loved ones' resting places or rituals of care and memory--or that threaten to do so in the future.
During your experience today at the cemetery, were there any graves that you reacted to particularly strongly? Why? If you volunteered, was there a particular task that had a special impact on you? Why? How do you think you will/would share this experience with others who have never visited a place like it?
The following are excerpts from two obituaries for William Custalo, an entrepreneur who died in 1907 and is buried at East End. Here is an excerpt from the Times-Dispatch, which was then the newspaper of the Richmond's white establishment:

“Uncle Billy” Dead.

Wealthiest Colored Man in Richmond Passes Away.^[2]

William Custalo, well-known as "Uncle Billy," and probably the wealthiest colored man in business in this city, died at his home on North Ninth Street yesterday at 1 o'clock, after a brief illness. For more than thirty years Sustalo [sic] conducted a saloon at the corner of Seventh and Broad Streets, and not a more orderly place of its kind could be found in the city. . . . Custalo was held in high esteem by his own people, and was much thought of by the white population here as well. Though a saloon-keeper he was a prominent church worker. He was a member of the Odd-Fellows, Masons and Knights of Pythias. He was also a director of The Mechanic's [sic] Savings Bank.

This excerpt comes from the Richmond Planet, the city's African American newspaper at the time:

William Custalo is Dead.

William Custalo went home Monday night, September 2d from his place of business as well as usual. He ate his supper and later retired. His wife has no further recollection of anything happening until about 2, when she heard something fall in the hallway. She went to the door and down the hall steps, when she observed something white lying on the floor. . . .

A doctor was hastily summoned and it was ascertained that Mr. Custalo had suffered from a stroke of paralysis and that there was little or no hope of his recovery. He never rallied. One time, after repeated efforts, he answered his wife's appeals by a pressure of the hand several times repeated. He died Saturday, September 7th, 1907 and the news was immediately communicated over the entire city, both white and colored people joining in the expressions of regret at his sudden taking off. . . .

The funeral took place last Tuesday from the Second Baptist Church. Rev. W. T. Johnson, D.D., delivered a most impressive discourse from the subject, "Thy Will be Done." Mr. Custalo had been a faithful member of this church for many years. . . .

The floral designs were numerous and costly. The casket was cloth-covered with heavy silver bar extension handles. The casket plate contained the Knights of Pythias emblem and the Masonic emblem. He was an Odd Fellow also. He was also a member of the board of directors of the Mechanics' Savings Bank, being on the Finance Committee of that institution. . . .

Interment was in East End Cemetery. William Custalo was a landmark so to speak and his death will tend to cast a gloom over this entire community. He was upright, conscientious, and faithful. His troubles are over and on the other side of the River he will "rest ‘neath the shade of the trees."

Compare and contrast these two obituaries. What does each communicate about Mr. Custalo? How do they prioritize, include, and exclude certain kinds of information? What do they say about the communities to which Mr. Custalo belonged in life, and about the mourning of his death?

4. Volunteers are needed for many things in our community, some of which seem more urgent than caring for a cemetery. Having visited the cemetery, what would you say is the value in this kind of work? How does it relate to other projects of community building or social justice?

Additional Resources

WEBSITES

Friends of East End

friendsofeastend.com

East End Cemetery RVA

eastendcemeteryrva.com

Map

dsl.richmond.edu/eastend

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