THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018 VOL. CXXXIV NO. 27
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
FOUNDED 1885
Penn welcomes newly-admitted students for Quaker Days
The 2018 Report on Diversity at The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc. SEE EDITORIAL PAGE 10
U. researches African American burial ground The historical burial ground was discovered under Penn property in West Phila. ALICE GOULDING Staff Reporter
year as well as this year and said she thought fewer people attended. “I think the amount of people that came was definitely less,” she said. “A lot of my friends didn’t go compared to last year.” Despite the fact that last year’s concert was also held at the same venue in Penn Park, Goran said comparing this year’s ticket sales to previous years’ would be “invalid and fruitless.” Before last year, the concert was held in Franklin
Earlier this year, an African American cemetery was discovered under Penn property in West Philadelphia. Now experts are saying human remains are likely still beneath the lot, which Penn administrators hope to have evaluated by a unaffiliated expert consultant. “We’ve found no evidence that the bodies have been moved in 20th century newspaper reports,” Associate Professor at Stony Brook University and 1993 School or Arts and Sciences graduate Donna Rilling said. Rilling, who has been working with President of the Philadelphia Archaeological Forum Doug Mooney to uncover more information on those originally buried at the site, said tracking census data has helped the pair better understand the demographics of the community. Up until the 1810s, there did not exist a recognized space for the respectful burials of African American Philadelphians, according to Assistant Professor in Penn’s Graduate Program in Historic Preservation Aaron Wunsch. Wunsch said by the 1820s, black and white Philadelphians were interested in creating burial grounds connected to mutual aid societies, which would offer a non-church affiliated alternative to community members. Senior Pastor of Monumental Baptist Church Rev. Dr. J. Wendell Mapson agreed with Wunsch’s statements. “Church membership wasn’t a qualification to be buried [at the African Friends of Harmony cemetery],” Mapson said. Of the 126 burial entries that have been located by Rilling and Mooney between 1860 and 1882, over 60 percent died by the age of four and 40 percent were 12 months or younger, according to an emailed statement by Rilling. One couple buried four children, whose ages ranged from 18 months to 12 years, in the span of two months in 1881. “The census often just says that [these residents] were laborers or gardeners,” Rilling continued, “for the surrounding upper-class community that was increasingly settling into the area.” Rilling said that many of those buried in the cemetery were affiliated with Monumental Baptist Church and Mt. Pisgah African Methodist Episcopal Church. “They started these churches themselves. They built this cemetery together,” Rilling said. The property was purchased by white property owners in 1910, who paid “decent money” for the plot and turned it into a car dealership, according to Rilling. She added that it’s unclear whether or not at this point the buyers were aware of the existence of the cemetery. “Why they would have paid decent money for it if they knew it was a cemetery, I’m not really sure,” Rilling said, “but why didn’t they develop it-- why didn’t anyone develop it? It was prime real estate.” Wunsch said the fact that it is a space that has been neglected by the larger Philadelphia community makes it historically significant.“It’s valuable not as a monumental place, but as a place that speaks to a way of organizing a community that is easily lost track of precisely because it didn’t manifest itself in monumental or physically grand terms,” Wunsch said. “Penn doesn’t exist in a vacuum, Wunsch continued. “It inherited a landscape that predates it.” Wunsch also said any work on the site should stop immediately. “There should be a pretty clear cut process that when a discovery like this occurs, work stops and archaeological research proceeds, he said. “There ideally would be a well-developed map where those
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CAROLINE GIBSON | ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR
During Quaker Days, students are introduced to the various academic, social, cultural, residential, and extracurricular opportunities that Penn has to offer.
Students say Spring Fling concert saw lower turnout compared to previous years SPEC declined to reveal the number of tickets sold DEENA ELUL Staff Reporter
Multiple students say this year’s Spring Fling concert — a “throwback show” featuring performances by CupcakKe, Sage the Gemini, JoJo, and The All-American Rejects — seemed to have a lower turnout rate than in previous years. However, the Social Planning and Events Committee, which is in charge of organizing the annual event, declined to reveal the number of tickets sold and would not comment on the number of people in attendance. Wharton junior and Co-chair of SPEC’s Concerts committee Elizabeth Goran said SPEC did not track how many people attended the concert. She also declined to comment on how many tickets were sold. “We do not, and have never commented on our final ticket sales for as long as I can remember,” she said. “Ticket sales do not necessarily match the actual number of people who show up, so giving you that information would be inaccurate.” Fling saw several significant changes this year. The venue changed from the historic Quad location to Penn Park, breaking a 45-year-old tradition. In addition, the event was condensed from two days to just one day this year. College freshman Zoe Osborne
CHASE SUTTON | SPORTS PHOTO EDITOR
While SPEC Concerts did not track turnout to the concert, the Spring Fling committee, which was in charge of planning the daytime event, did and reported that far more students attended the event than in previous years.
said she thinks only one-third to one-half of the space set aside for concertgoers at Penn Park was actually filled. She added that the crowd extended about 40 feet back from the stage, but a much larger area had been set aside. “It was definitely not full,” she said. College freshman Lorenza Colagrossi said she had a similar impression. “The space was huge and massive and only one-third of the section was actually used for people
to stand on,” she said. “It was definitely not as full as I expected.” Colagrossi added that more people arrived as the concert continued, but many left early because it became cold and windy in the middle of the show. “I know a lot of my friends who are upperclassmen mentioned that it was significantly less full than it was [in previous years],” she added. College sophomore Jessica Li, a columnist at The Daily Pennsylvanian, attended the concert last
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