Browse Exhibits (2 total)

Preserving the Dead: A History of Cemeteries

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This exhibit will provide a general explanation of historic preservation, focusing specifically on the preservation of cemeteries. It will also provide a history of cemeteries in America, starting in the late 18th and early 19th century. While cemeteries often vary in style from region to region, migration patterns in this period brought burial traditions from the northeast to the southeast, then known as the “old southwest.” Additionally, cemeteries reflect differences in cultural practices by people of varying race, religion, or class. These differences give us a better understanding of why these cemeteries were built, how people used these cemeteries, and how and why practices changed over time. This exhibit will also provide a brief history of The Grove and its residents, along with a summary of recent preservation efforts taken at the Call-Collins Family Cemetery.

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The Stories that Lie Here: Biographies of the Call-Collins Family Cemetery

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This exhibit tells the stories of those buried at the Call-Collins Family Cemetery at The Grove in Tallahassee, Florida. While the cemetery is primarily used for members of the Call family, descended from Florida’s third and fifth territorial governor Richard Keith Call, there are non-family members buried here as well. Richard Keith Call is buried here along with his wife and many of his children. Mary Call Collins, Call’s great-granddaughter, is buried here with her husband, LeRoy Collins, who was the 33rd Governor of Florida. The two governors serve as bookends for interpretation of the site, chronicling the history of slavery and civil rights in the state. Tragically, there are nine known graves of children in this cemetery, many of whom died at a young age due to malaria and the harsh environment of territorial Florida. The prevalence of child burials is not uncommon in historic cemeteries, especially ones on frontiers. Unfortunately, as a result, there is very little known about their short lives.

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