Aug
URBAN MEMORIALS
Posted under Features, |
Working with local artists, scholars, psychologists and community groups, the Urban Mourning Project is specifically designed for young people whose lives have been affected by violence. Through various artistic outlets, including drawing, sculpting, painting, writing, spoken word, poetry and film-making, the Urban Mourning Project will offer participants a means for self-expression, facilitating an opportunity to improve the quality of their lives in Philadelphia by helping to prevent them from falling into the cycle of street violence.
The Urban Mourning Project is a free after school program sponsored by the Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery (FLHC). In response to rising levels of violence throughout the City of Philadelphia, the project is intended to help children channel grief away from its often-destructive consequences and into more productive and creative outlets. Website
Furthermore, the program will aim to educate children about the meanings and importance of the mourning process, its rituals, and traditions, and open doors to better, healthier communication about death and dying, thus helping children learn how to deal with grief constructively.
URBAN MEMORIALS
Spontaneous memorialization is a rapid public response to publicized, unexpected, and violent deaths, typically involving the accumulation of individual mementos to create a shrine at the death site. Most spontaneous memorials start within hours of death notification; someone leaves a candle or bouquet of flowers, which is followed quickly by contributions from others. Spontaneous memorials differ from traditional forms of memorialization by appearing where the death occurred (or at a location associated with the deceased) rather than in a site reserved for the dead. Spontaneous memorials thus tend to be impermanent but are an everyday reminder that death can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time.
Spontaneous memorialization is a rapid public response to publicized, unexpected, and violent deaths, typically involving the accumulation of individual mementos to create a shrine at the death site. Most spontaneous memorials start within hours of death notification; someone leaves a candle or bouquet of flowers, which is followed quickly by contributions from others. Well-documented spontaneous memorials have appeared near mass death sites like the park over-looking Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado (the site of fifteen fatal shootings in 1999), the fence surrounding the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City (where a bomb blast killed 168 people in 1995), and the homes of celebrities (e.g., mountains of bouquets were left at the palace of Great Britain's Lady Diana, Princess of Wales, when she died in an auto accident in 1997). Spontaneous memorials also occur in response to less celebrated deaths: the local store owner who died in a robbery, the pedestrian hit by a drunk driver, the child too near the window when a gang member started shooting. For further reading and references please see this site
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Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery
Founded in 1836, Laurel Hill is the second oldest major rural garden cemetery in the United States, and one of Philadelphia's premier unknown historic landmarks. It is also one of the few cemeteries in the nation to be honored with the distinction of being a National Historic Landmark. With its spectacular vistas and thousands of 19th and 20th century marble and granite funerary monuments, Laurel Hill Cemetery encompasses seventy-eight idyllic acres terraced above the Schuylkill River in the East Falls section of Philadelphia. During and after the Civil War, Laurel Hill became the final resting place of hundreds of military figures, including over forty Civil War era generals. From its inception, the Cemetery was intended as a civic institution designed for public use. In an era before public parks and museums, it was a multi-purpose cultural attraction where the general public could experience the art and refinement previously known only to the wealthy. Laurel Hill is owned by the Laurel Hill Cemetery Company, which has a 501(c)(13) Cemetery non-profit designation and is managed by a board of directors. In 1978, the Friends of Laurel Hill, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was founded to support the Cemetery. As Laurel Hill has limited space available, its future does not follow traditional cemetery financial models. The mission of the Friends is to assist the Cemetery in preserving and promoting its historical character. In addition to the site's famous Halloween tours and the Gravediggers' Ball, the Friends offer monthly tours and events, often in collaboration with local schools, affiliated non-profit organizations, and historical organizations. At present, the Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery is implementing key recommendations proposed in our interpretive strategic plan, which sets forth a structure for further developing themed programming. The Friends is also in the process of completing its first-ever branding project through a nationally recognized advertising firm. Through establishing a new and inviting identity for the historic site, as well as through focused marketing strategies and advertising campaigns, Laurel Hill anticipates increased public visitation and interest. Our new marketing tag line is: Laurel Hill Cemetery - The Underground Museum.
The Urban Mourning Project after-school program is supported in part by generous grants from the Helen D. Groome Beatty Trust, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, the Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation, and the Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery.
The planning and development phase of the Urban Mourning Project, completed in the spring of 2008, was made possible through the support of the Heritage Philadelphia Program, a program of the Philadelphia Center for Arts and Heritage, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by The University of the Arts.
The Urban Mourning Project depends on public and private support to fulfill its mission. Donate
