Preserving the Dead: A History of Cemeteries

     This digital exhibit provides an overview of historic preservation efforts taken at the Call-Collins Family Cemetery located at The Grove Museum in Tallahassee, Florida. The Grove Museum is comprised of the Call-Collins House and the 10.5-acres surrounding it, with the cemetery situated in the northeast corner of the property. The cemetery, established in the 19^th century, is the resting place of two Florida governors and members of their family. It became an active cemetery in 1834 and the most recent burial was in 2010. Richard Keith Call, 3^rd and 5^th Territorial Governor who used enslaved people’s labor to build the Call-Collins House and manage the surrounding plantation, along with other properties, was buried in 1862. Call’s wife, children, and other descendants are buried in the cemetery as well, including his great-granddaughter, Mary Call Collins. Her husband, Thomas LeRoy Collins, was the 33^rd Governor of Florida and was laid to rest at The Grove in 1991.

     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 18^th and early 19^th 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.