Preliminary Program: CRPT Conference III



--PRELIMINARY PROGRAM--
Final to be posted May 30th

Registration $60
 Link to REGISTRATION

Thursday, June 1, 8-5pm Flagler College, Reception 6-7:30 Corazon
8:00 am        Registration, Ringhaver Student Center, Flagler College
8:30 am        Welcome and introductions

8:45 am   Track A: Intro Cemetery Resources Protection Training (CRPT)
Recommended for first time CRPT attendees

     Introduction to Historic Cemetery Management
     Navigating Florida's Burial Laws
     Florida Master Site File
     Historic Cemeteries and Sea Level Rise   

8:45 am      Track B: Current Issues in Florida Cemeteries (20 minutes each)

Creating a Long-Term Management Plan for Tampa's Oldest Public Cemetery
Jeff Moates, FPAN West Central

Tales from the CRPT: Engaging College-Level Students in Local Archaeology (St. Lucie County, FL)  
Kyle Freund, Indian River State College, and Kevin Gidusko, FPAN East Central

The Cemetery Dash: Monitoring Cemeteries through HMS Florida
Rachael Kangas, FPAN Southwest

Memorializing the Sons of Israel in North Florida: A Comparison of the St. Augustine and Gainesville Historic Jewish Cemeteries
David Markus, University of Florida

Estate Land for Sale, "Families Included"
Shelby Bender, East Hillsborough Historical Society

The Differences in Cemetery Management: Public versus Private 
Megan Liebold, FPAN Northeast

Past Reality Meets Reality Television and Social Media: How Perceptions of a Slave Cemetery Help Frame Education, Outreach, and Scholarship
Dr. Helen Blouet, Utica College

The Silent History of Forgotten Lives Buried in Paradise
Dr. Alisha Winn, Storm of '28 Memorial Park Coalition, Inc

Lunch on your own

1 pm Panel: Disaster Management for Cemeteries During Crisis and Calm
   Salvatore Cumella, City of Fernandina Beach   
   Anne Lewellen, National Park Service
   Elizabeth Gessener, Tolomato Cemetery Preservation Association
   Jennifer Wolfe, City of St. Augustine
   Margo Stringfield, UWF Archaeology Institute

3:30 pm Special session: Forgotten Cemeteries of St. Augustine
Featuring preliminary findings of the recent Los Remedios Burials
   Dr. Kathleen Deagan, Florida Museum of Natural History, UF
   Carl Halbirt, City of St. Augustine
   Dr. John Krigbaum, University of Florida

6-7:30 pm Awards Reception and Keynote, Corazon Cinema and Cafe

Florida's Historic Cemeteries: Significance and Salvation
Margo Stringfield, M.A., Research Archaeologist 
University of West Florida Archaeology Institute

Friday, June 2, 8am-12pm, hands-on work stations and trolley tour
Tolomato Cemetery: limewashing and headstone cleaning
Huguenot Cemetery: digital scanning and documentation

Track A:  8 am Tolomato Cemetery/9 am Huguenot Cemetery    
Track B: 8 am Huguenot Cemetery/9 am Tolomato Cemetery

Tour of Cemeteries at Risk -  meet at the trolley stop north of Parking Garage

Lunch on your own downtown St. Augustine

1- 5 pm Jay's Corner, 1st Floor Ringhaver Student Center, Flagler College
Free and open to the public

1 pm Forming an American Gravestones Studies Florida Chapter Round Table

2 pm Special Topics in Cemetery Preservation and Interpretation (30 min. each)
     Genealogy and Archival Research for Cemeteries, Vishi Garig, Clay County Archives
     Bringing Cemeteries Alive: Interpretation of Historic Cemeteries, Matthew Armstrong, UF
     Engaging Communities in Cemetery Preservation, Margo Stringfield, UWF
     Documenting Historic Cemeteries in 3D, Kevin Gidusko, FPAN East Central
     Monitoring Cemeteries through HMS Florida, Emily Jane Murray, FPAN Northeast

Concluding remarks and evaluation

_________________________________________________________________________


Speaker Bios and Presentation Abstracts (in order of agenda)

Creating a Long-Term Management Plan for Tampa's Oldest Public Cemetery
Jeff Moates, Director, Florida Public Archaeology Network, West Central and Central Regions

Abstract: Tampa's oldest public burying ground, Oaklawn Cemetery, prospers and declines through renewed management efforts every few decades. The City of Tampa wants to break this cycle and create a new management plan. The City and a local cemetery advocacy group invited FPAN to facilitate this effort. FPAN staff and USF Anthropology are now taking first steps with a mapping and remote sensing survey.

Jeff earned a M.A. in History/Historical Archaeology and a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of West Florida. Jeff's work experiences prior to FPAN include employment as a field tech and crew chief with Archaeological Consultants, Inc, an underwater archaeologist for the Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research, and museum curator at the Florida Maritime Museum at Cortez. Jeff enjoys coffee and mullet, but not necessarily at the same time.


Tales from the CRPT: Engaging College-Level Students in Local Archaeology (St. Lucie County, FL)
Dr. Kyle Freund, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Indian River State College
Kevin Gidusko, Public Archaeology Coordinator, Florida Public Archaeology Network East Central Region

Abstract: This paper discusses the Field Methods in Cemetery Archaeology course being offered at Indian River State College (IRSC), in which students are recording individual grave markers at historic cemeteries in St. Lucie County, Florida. Students study firsthand the diverse ways in which various cultural groups have commemorated those who have passed, and the information they collect becomes part of a larger publicly available database of Florida grave markers. Students gain an appreciation for the importance of preserving our community’s cultural heritage and the destructive risks that many local cemeteries face, in turn drawing a connection between the past and present. 

Dr. Kyle Freund was an undergrad at the University of Florida, holds a M.A. in Applied Anthropology from the University of South Florida and completed his Ph.D. in Anthropology at McMaster University (Ontario) before joining the faculty of Indian River State College in 2015. Prof. Freund's primary research centers on prehistoric farming communities of the central Mediterranean, with an emphasis on the reflexive relationship between material culture and long-term social processes. 

Kevin Gidusko graduated in 2011 from the University of Central Florida with a B.A. in Anthropology and shortly after began work in FPAN’s East Central Region conducting public outreach and education. He has been in involved in historic and prehistoric archaeology in the Central Florida region since 2009. Kevin served as president of the Central Florida Anthropological Society from 2009-2015. He returned to UCF to work toward a Master’s degree in Anthropology where his research focuses on the use of ground penetrating radar, photogrammetry, geographic information systems (GIS), and other remote sensing applications in archaeology. His specialties include Florida archaeology, prehistoric archaeology, geophysical applications in archaeology, and public archaeology.


The Cemetery Dash: Monitoring Historic Cemeteries through HMS Florida
Rachael Kangas M.A., RPA, Public Archaeology Coordinator, Florida Public Archaeology Network, Southwest Region

Abstract: FPAN’s Heritage Monitoring Scout program kicked off in the fall of 2016 and a month after a challenge was issued: monitor every historic cemetery across the state! Or at least try for 50 out of the 1,300 recorded historic cemeteries listed on the Florida Master Site File. This presentation will demonstrate how the Cemetery Dash challenge launched in southwest Florida last fall and end on lessons learned for Scouts willing to take up the gauntlet in 2017.

Rachael Kangas earned her M.A. from the University of Central Florida (UCF) in 2015 and her Maya Studies Certificate from UCF in 2014. She is the Public Archaeology Coordinator for the Southwest Region of the Florida Public Archaeology Network, and conducts public archaeology and outreach in the region. She has participated in multiple field seasons in the Americas and had the opportunity to conduct lab work and teach during her time at UCF.


Memorializing the Sons of Israel in North Florida: A Comparison of the St. Augustine and Gainesville Historic Jewish Cemeteries
David Markus and Simon Goldstone, University of Florida, Department of Anthropology

Abstract: The Sons of Israel Cemetery in St. Augustine and the Bene Israel Cemetery in Gainesville represent two of the oldest Jewish specific burial grounds in Florida and have been in use since the mid 19th Century. As both cemeteries have similar dates of origin and are of roughly equivalent size, comparing the cemetery layouts and the composition of their headstones provides a unique perspective on the Jewish communities on the Florida frontier. This paper will compare the material, iconographic, and linguistic choices made by the respective communities to better understand the development of the Jewish presence in North Florida.

David M. Markus, MA, RPA is an advanced doctoral candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Florida. He received his Master’s in Anthropology from the University of Arkansas in 2011. He has been conducting archaeological research in North America and the Caribbean for over 10 years. His dissertation research covers the Archaeology of Jewish Diaspora in the 19th Century American South.

Simon Goldstone, MA is a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Florida. He received his Master’s in Anthropology from East Carolina University in 2016. His Master’s research focused on headstone iconography and cemetery patterning in North Carolina. His current research is on the Archaeology of Jewish Diaspora in Florida.

Estate Land for Sale, "Families Included"
Shelby Bender, Director, East Hillsborough Historical Society 

Abstract: Looking for a place to settle down and raise your family? Looking for a place to settle down that comes with its own family? Look NO more! What action can you take when you find out that a cemetery is headed to the auction block?  Are there steps you can take to assure a level of protection/recognition? Take action before the SOLD gavel comes down and the story of the disappearing grave begins to be penned!

Shelby Jean Roberson Bender is the Executive Director and President of the East Hillsborough Historical Society.  EHHS’s offices, Pioneer Museum and Quintilla Geer Bruton Archives Center are located in the historic 1914 Plant City High School Community Center. Bender, an eighth generation Floridian, shares her interest in history and preservation with her family, friends and community.  She holds both state and county Florida Pioneer Descendant certificates.  She serves as Chairman of the City of Plant City Historic Resources Board which oversees three local and national register historic districts and serves on the Hillsborough County Historic Advisory Council and the Hillsborough County Historic Preservation Challenge Grant Panel. She has co-authored four books on Plant City history and Tampa’s historic cemeteries, conducts workshops and seminars and is a member of the EHHS, Plant City Main Street Board of Directors, Florida State Genealogical Society (Secretary), Huxford Genealogical Society, Ybor City Museum Society, Association of Professional Genealogists and the Association of Gravestone Studies and other historical and genealogical societies. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Saint Leo University and a Non-Profit Management Certificate from the University of South Florida. She and her husband Andy have three adult sons and along with their families enjoy outdoor hobbies and family time.



The Differences in Cemetery Management: Public v. Private
Meagan Liebold, Outreach Assistant, FPAN Northeast; Student, Leicester University

Abstract: The management of cemeteries differ between the private vs. public ownership sectors. This discussion focuses discussing these categories, laws pertaining to each, and the differences in management plans that can be seen in each sector. 

Megan Liebold earned a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Central Florida and is currently enrolled in a Masters program at the University of Leicester. She served as Outreach Assistant for the Florida Public Archaeology Network's Northeast Region and continues to consult with the center on select projects. Her interests include historic cemeteries, underwater archaeology and osteoarchaeology.


Past Reality Meets Reality Television and Social Media: How Perceptions of a Slave Cemetery Help Frame Education, Outreach, and Scholarship
Helen Blouet, PhD. Associate Professor of Anthropology, Utica College

Abstract:  This paper describes reference to a slave cemetery on the reality television show, Southern Charm. In particular, I interpret ideas shared on social media in response to this scene, including empathy for as well as fear and avoidance of the cemetery and the interred. People also expressed discontent over how the burial site was portrayed and treated by cast members and producers. I argue that reflection on and engagement with public understandings of intersections between slavery, death, and burial can help improve teaching and learning of these subjects in schools, museums, and historical sites of interest.

Dr. Helen Blouet received her B.A. in anthropology from the College of William and Mary, and her M.A. and Ph.D from Syracuse University. Helen's dissertation research examined the ways in which people in 18th and 19th century Caribbean communities utilized burial practices and commemorated the dead. She is most interest in how, given identities and categories of race, class and religion, people created commemorative similarities and differences through their access to funerary resources. Dr. Blouet continues to research death, burial and commemoration in Caribbean history.



The Silent History of Forgotten Lives Buried in Paradise
Dr. Alisha R. Winn, Applied Cultural Anthropologist, Storm of '28 Memorial Park Coalition, Inc.

Abstract: On September 6, 1928, a major hurricane hit the east coast of Palm Beach County Florida, causing the flooding of Lake Okeechobee, and drowning 3000 people living in the surrounding areas. Due to lack of burial space in greater impacted storm areas, many victims were buried in West Palm Beach, Florida. White victims were identified, and buried at Woodlawn cemetery, but 674 Black unidentified victims were laid in a mass gravesite in a historic African American neighborhood, remaining unmarked and un-kept until 2004. Although today, historical markers represent the victims in the space, this gravesite is a disturbing reminder of the silenced lives and importance of recognizing invisible history.


Dr. Alisha R. Winn is an applied cultural anthropologist whose community-engaged work focuses on race, identity, language, historic preservation, museums, and heritage education for youth. She earned her Ph.D. in Applied Anthropology from the University of South Florida. Currently, she is a consultant in preservation and community building efforts for West Palm Beach’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) in the Historic Northwest District, the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum in Delray Beach, and the Storm of '28 Memorial Park Coalition, Inc., where she assists in education awareness and museum development for the mass gravesite of the 674 victims of the 1928 hurricane located in an African American community in West Palm Beach, FL. Dr. Winn also teaches anthropology to community and religious institutions; helping individuals outside of the classroom gain an appreciation for the discipline's usefulness and relevance.



Panel: Disaster Management for Cemeteries During Crisis and Calm
    Salvatore Cumella, City of Fernandina Beach
    Elizabeth Gessener, Tolomato Cemetery Preservation Association
    Anne Lewellen, National Park Service
    Margo Stringfield, UWF Archaeology Institute
    Jennifer Wolfe, City of St. Augustine

Salvatore Cumella is the Historic Preservation Planner for City of Fernandina Beach and is finishing up his M.A. degree in Historic Preservation from the University of Florida this summer. As the new Historic Preservation Planner for the City of Fernandina Beach, Sal is responsible for all planning efforts within the City that relate to historic resources. This includes Bosque Bello, the city-owned original Spanish cemetery that was associated with Old Town Fernandina and Fort San Carlos. He is interested not only in the preservation of historic cemeteries, but also the creative programing and education outreach opportunities possible within these historic resources.


Elizabeth Duran Gessner is a St Augustine resident and was one of the founders of the Tolomato Cemetery Preservation Association in 2010. She is currently the president of the Association. Elizabeth is from New York City, and is a product of The City College of New York. With a background in art, art history and languages, she has worked in the legal translation field and has studied and traveled extensively in Spain and Europe, visiting cemeteries all over the Continent.  Elizabeth currently arranges and escorts tours to local points of historical interest, and is working not only on the preservation of Tolomato Cemetery, but on its development and interpretation as an important St. Augustine historical site.



Anne Lewellen is the Museum Curator for the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve / Fort Caroline National Memorial in Jacksonville. She has worked for the National Park Service for 20 years at four NPS units. Anne has a Bachelor's degree from the College of Wooster (OH) and a Master's in Museum Studies from the University of Oklahoma. 




Margo Stringfield holds a M.A. degree in Historical Archaeology from the University of West Florida. Along with an ongoing interest in the history and archaeology of Colonial West Florida, Stringfield also works extensively in the field of historic cemetery preservation and conservation. Stringfield is the principal archaeologist for historic St. Michael's Cemetery - one of the oldest cemeteries in Florida. She also works with municipal and private cemetery groups in Florida and regionally to preserve the funerary landscapes of their communities. She is the facilitator for the Pensacola Area Cemetery Team (PACT). She is also co-author of the forthcoming Florida's Historic Cemeteries with Sharyn Thompson.




Jenny Wolfe is the Historic Preservation Officer for the City of St. Augustine and has been with the City for over six years.  She manages the city’s historic preservation program including staff liaison to the Historic Architecture Review Board, the general public, and developing recommendations for preservation programs and policies.  In addition, she proposes and manages grants for special projects like wayfinding markers, historic building rehabilitation, and architectural surveys.  Wolfe is entering her fourth year of service as a Trustee to the Board of the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation and currently serving as Secretary on the Executive Committee.  As a graduate of the University of Florida programs in historic preservation and political science with a minor in dance she is a proud Gator.  While in Gainesville she volunteered with Historic Gainesville Inc. eventually to become President of the Board and volunteered with the Alachua County Humane Society.  In her free time, she enjoys the beach, biking, cooking, camping, traveling, and raising her furbaby Gracie.


Photo Credit: Old City Life.
Special Session: Forgotten Cemeteries of St. Augustine
Featuring preliminary findings of the recent Los Remedios Burials
Dr. Kathleen Deagan, Florida Museum of Natural History, UF
Carl Halbirt, City of St. Augustine
Dr. John Krigbaum, University of Florida



Kathleen Deagan is Distinguished Research Curator of Archaeology Emerita and Adjunct Professor of Anthropology and History Emerita at the University of Florida’s Florida Museum of Natural History. She received her Ph.D. in 1974 from the University of Florida, and after teaching at Florida State University Anthropology Department for eight years, she joined the University of Florida faculty in 1982. Deagan is the author of eight books and more than 65 scientific papers. She was named an Alumna of Outstanding Distinction by the University of Florida in 1998, and is a recipient of the Society for Historical Archaeology’s J.C. Harrington Award for Lifetime Distinction in Historical Archaeology. She was awarded the “Order of La Florida” by the City of St. Augustine in 2007 for distinguished service to the city.  Deagan was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2016.

Carl Halbirt has been the city archaeologist for St. Augustine, Florida, since April 1990, after having worked in various locations in the American Southwest for 16 years.  Since coming to St. Augustine, Halbirt has conducted more than 800 archaeological projects in response to new ground-penetrating construction activities, as mandated by the City of St. Augustine’s  Archaeological Preservation Ordinance.   Although the majority of these projects have dealt with materials dating to the historic era (1565 to the early 20th century), some projects have delved into the prehistoric era.  The data unearthed have enabled Halbirt to gain a unique perspective of St. Augustine’s archaeological landscape.

Halbirt maintains an active role in helping to maintain and interpret St. Augustine’s unique cultural heritage through numerous public outreach programs and presentations at professional conferences, as well as development of an active volunteer program whose members assist in archaeological data recovery and analysis.  These activities have been acknowledged by various organizations, including the Individual Distinguished Service Award by the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation (2015), the City’s Archaeology Program has been recognized by the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation as a Preservation America Steward (2015), and the Ripley P. Bullen Award from the Florida Anthropological Society (2008). In 2001, Halbirt was presented with the City of St. Augustine’s Employee of the Year “for service to the people of St. Augustine through his untiring dedication to the exploration and preservation of the City’s past.”



Dr. John Krigbaum is an Associate Professor and Undergraduate Coordinator for the University of Florida’s Anthropology Department. He completed his dissertation at New York University on “Human paleodiet in tropical Southeast Asia: Isotopic evidence from Niah Cave and Gua Cha.” His major research interests include paleoanthropology, bioarchaeology, human osteology, paleopathology, and paleodiet reconstruction. Three of his recent projects include Palawan Island Pre-/Paleohistoric research, Paleocene-eocene boundary in the continental interior of North America, and an archaeological study of the Red House in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. He is currently working on analysis of the remains from the Charlotte Street burials in St. Augustine. 


CASBY AWARDS AND KEYNOTE RECEPTION

Keynote: Florida's Historic Cemeteries: Significance and Salvation
Margo Stringfield, Research Archaeologist, University of West Florida Archaeology Institute

Abstract: Margo will explore why cemeteries are important in telling the story of Florida (and beyond) and explore common threads that link our cemeteries, using sites from across the state. She will discuss how we can approach bringing the message of significance to the public that can in term encourage preserving these important efforts.








Friday On-Site Workshops
Friday morning participants cycle through four work stations (30 minutes each) in two of our oldest cemeteries. At Tolomato Cemetery participants will clean headstones with a D2 solution and limewashing above ground vaults under the supervision of the Tolomato Cemetery Preservation Association volunteers trained by NCPTT. At Huguenot Cemetery participants will practice headstone recording and hear about the year-long San Sebastian Cemetery recording project, then see a demonstration of photogrammetry/3D scanning of monuments at Huguenot in the field. We sincerely thank the Tolomato Cemetery Preservation Association, Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine, Friends of Huguenot Cemetery, and Memorial Presbyterian for their partnership and ongoing support of CRPT programs.



Tour of Cemeteries at Risk -  meet at the trolley stop north of Parking Garage
After working in the cemeteries, included in the registration is a guided trolley tour of cemeteries in St. Augustine that are at risk due to sea level rise and storm surge. The tour is based on resiliency studies conducted by the City of St. Augustine and will go past National Cemetery, Tolomato Cemetery, and Huguenot Cemetery. The trolley route will also go past many of the forgotten cemeteries Dr. Deagan will highlight during her presentation the day before that are no longer visible from the ground surface. Guests can be dropped back at the Visitor Information Center or opt to get dropped off at the Nombre de Dios Shrine and Museum to visit the historic cemetery on the property as well as the casket of Pedro Menendez on display. Thanks to our sponsor Old Town Trolley Tours of St. Augustine for giving us a lift and supporting cultural resources throughout the year!
Forming an American Gravestones Studies Florida Chapter Round Table

American Gravestone Studies (AGS) is a nonprofit organization to foster appreciation of the cultural significance of gravestones and burial grounds through their study and preservation. Chapters exist nationwide to expand public awareness and support for the research, preservation and conservation of grave markers and places of burial. Florida currently has no state or regional chapters, the closest being Alabama, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. This roundtable will explore the formation of an AGS chapter in Florida, discuss the benefits an AGS chapter would bring to the CRPT Alliance, and formulate next steps a steering committee would need to take on to make a chapter a reality.


Special Topics in Cemetery Preservation and Interpretation
Friday afternoon sessions are free and open to the public. Based on previous CRPT Conference evaluations, these are topics CRPT Alliance members stated they wanted more training in to help develop their cemetery stewardship toolkit. Some of our favorite community cemeterians are bringing case studies and examples to this informal afternoon session so participants can replicate what they’ve done in their own community.
  •      Genealogy and Archival Research for Cemeteries, Vishi Garig, Clay County Archives
  •      Bringing Cemeteries Alive: Interpretation of Historic Cemeteries, Matthew Armstrong, UF
  •      Engaging Communities in Cemetery Preservation, Margo Stringfield, UWF
  •      Documenting Historic Cemeteries in 3D, Kevin Gidusko, FPAN East Central
  •      Monitoring Cemeteries through HMS Florida, Emily Jane Murray, FPAN Northeast



Not yet registered? Registration is $60 to cover access to all presentations and training sessions, keynote and award reception at the Corazon Cinema and Café, and conference materials including t-shirt. Link to REGISTRATION

For more information contact Emily Jane Murrayemurray@flagler.edu