FEATURE: AN ART MEMORIAL IN THE MAKING
Bethel Burying Ground Memorial After the discovery of an African-American burial ground, the search for a fitting tribute by Duncan Spencer
Q Kelly Lee, the chief cultural officer for the City of Philadelphia, has been leading public sessions to determine a fitting memorial for the site of an African American burial ground. It was discovered under Weccacoe Playground on Queen Street between Lawrence and Leithgow streets.
Photo by Richard Carey courtesy of Jazz Philadelphia
QVNA'S COMMUNITY MEETING to discuss the Bethel Burying Ground Memorial plans will be Wednesday, April 10 at 6:30 p.m. Join us at St Philip Neri Church, 218 Queen Street, along with Aparna Palatino from the Department of Parks and Rec, Kelly Lee from the Office of Arts and Culture and the Creative Economy, and Councilman Mark Squilla. Come hear plans, ask questions, and be informed about the changes coming to Weccacoe playground.
QUEEN VILLAGE QUARTERLY CRIER \\ SPRING 2019
ueen Village is home to the oldest religiously affiliated, AfricanAmerican burial ground in Philadelphia, and, quite possibly, the country. Older African-American burial sites exist in the form of private cemeteries, in the churchyard at Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church and at the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, as well as in potter’s fields—areas that receive burials for paupers and strangers to the community. But Bethel Burying Ground is the first church-affiliated plot of land bought with the intention to serve as a cemetery for African-Americans. It occupies the southwest third of Weccacoe Playground on Queen Street between Lawrence and Leithgow streets, and it was discovered during plans for a major renovation. Last fall, the Bethel Burying Ground Historic Site Memorial Committee was founded under the guidance of Mayor Jim Kenney’s Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy (OACCE), which is responsible for all public art in Philadelphia. The committee’s mission is to develop a meaningful memorialization for the site that reflects its role in Philadelphia history. Per its mission, “Committee
members and the project are committed to an inclusive public engagement process in the development of a purposeful portrayal of this historic site that reveals the vital story and celebrates those laid to rest there.” Since September 2017, many volunteers, including QVNA President Eleanor Ingersoll, myself, as well as 11 other committee people, have been working to help create a fitting memorial for the site. Through this process, the committee has grappled with profound questions: What constitutes art? Should a commemoration be summed up by a piece of art? Or do we want a design, concept, or a message? Just as difficult, how do we judge and interpret the actions and inactions of the church, city, and neighborhood, now 120 years in the past, without imposing our contemporary values and biases on them? Operational questions abound as well: Where will the commemoration physically be located? What are the constrictions imposed by the site? What will the artist/ designer/commemorators be given as a canvas? If the building is removed, can something be placed on the foundation?
