Blog – Page 9 – Hidalgo County Public Cemetery Project

Digital Techniques

Posted on December 16, 2017 by 1laracroft1

We used a lot of digital techniques at the pauper cemetery. HCPCP used collaborative participation, by making the site public and encouraging help from people who might have information. We made the blog that is for public access on what we are doing. The project has used 3D scanning but not in the field. With 3D scanning you can recreate what a site might have looked like before it broken or got the weeds overgrown on it. We used our phones to record the data and take pictures of the grave site. We tried to be as open about the project with community as possible. We wanted to use crowd sourcing as much as possible to learn who was buried at the site and to help make the entries of the site as detailed as possible.

The use of digital technology has new ethical issues. It is a great way for public participation, however there is not much to tell collaborate with what someone tells us. It also relies on voluntarism from the public for our information. It has been criticized as free labor and contributing to neo-liberalist economies. But using digital technology made collecting the data easy as all we had to do was input it into our phones. The complication was if the phone died as it used a lot of the battery, there was no place to charge your phone if it died in the process of recording. The cell phones also relied on signal to use which is not always reliable in the middle of a cemetery.

A Final Reflection on my Experience with this Project

Posted on December 11, 2017 by alexr11

It is easy to reflect on this cemetery project and service learning course. The entire experience has been much more than a class. It has been a unique opportunity to not only engage with the public, but participate in a project that will require ongoing work. To summarize our work, it is the beginning of a long process of identifying and mapping all of the grades in the Hidalgo County Pauper Cemetery. We began by flagging as many graves as we could identify. We ended up having human remains detection dogs coming in and identifying more, so in the end we have found that there are close to 1,000 graves in total. Bringing in the HRD dogs, Piper and Jasper, was a very interesting stage, as they were able to locate graves which had been completely unmarked. Our next step was to go to each grave and record as much known data as possible, including measurements. We used a total station, as used in archaeological fieldwork, to begin to map each grave. Of course, we could not complete all 1,000+ in one semester, so this is an ongoing project.

I would say that perhaps my favorite part of this project was data collection. This is not something I would have foreseen myself enjoying, but there is something almost therapeutic about methodically gathering information and recording it in an organized manner. Besides this, I enjoyed taking notice of the individuals buried in this cemetery. I feel that I played a role in reminding the community of their presence. For the unmarked and unidentified graves, simply recording the location and flag number, with a photo, felt good. Knowing that while we are unable to identify these individuals at what is a very early stage, there is a possibility of new information being uncovered with time. I expected my least favorite part to consist of any and all technological contributions. I have never been gifted in the handling of technology and have come to accept that my talents lie elsewhere. I did tend to avoid the total station; I’m going to be honest about that. This being said, just about anything can be learned with time and practice, so I would like to make a point of tackling my technological hang ups in the future.

As someone whose academic focus is not in archaeology, I initially signed up for this course in order to gain hands on experience in field work. It is wise to have some type of research or field experience prior to grad school. While this project may not be a three month excavation in a foreign country, it does offer an opportunity to step outside of the typical university setting and into an environment that welcomes ideas and applauds initiative. It has been eye opening and humbling to see firsthand the level of detail that archaeologists strive for. While I do not see myself becoming a career archaeologist, as I am leaning toward the global health field, I have developed a newfound respect for archaeologists and their work ethic.

Upon leaving the classroom and beginning to build a relationship with the community, it allows one to not simply see or hear the course content, but to experience it firsthand. This semester I took Intro to Archaeology in addition to this Public Archaeology course. Because of the service work, I was able to apply many of the anthropological concepts I was learning in Intro to Archaeology, and that was very cool. Another important dynamic has been the strong focus on social justice. The hope of this project is to strengthen what has been a very neglected and overlooked cemetery. Many of the individuals buried here were dealt an unfortunate hand in life and were unable to afford a private burial. We want to keep the public, and the loved ones of those buried in the cemetery, informed throughout this process and provide them with as much information as possible as we move forward. For anyone who may have a family member or friend buried in an unidentified grave, it is important that they do not lose hope in finding the location. While it may take time and resources, there are people who care and want to keep working toward these goals.

I, personally, benefitted from this experience by growing as a student. This was my first university course that did not take place entirely in a classroom, so it was a useful experience for me to participate in a project that needed help. After I earn my bachelor’s degree, I will be looking at master’s programs in applied anthropology, so having been able to “apply” anthropology at least once already will be beneficial for me. Speaking on behalf of the class, I would say that this project has been a great way of testing our abilities, as students, in order to take the skills we have learned in the classroom, and apply them in the real world. On top of that, service work is needed in so many areas and having been able to contribute to one of these causes is advantageous in its own right. As I continue my education and one day build a career, I will enjoy looking back on my first educational community involvement experience and the imprint it left.

I would really love to take this public archaeology class again and continue my involvement with cemetery fieldwork. At the moment, it looks as though I will have a full schedule up until graduation. This being said, I consider myself invested in the outcome of the Hidalgo County Public Cemetery Project and would love to visit the class in the future and see what progress has been made. I’m interested in seeing changes that have been made and learning of any new developments. I have already spoken highly of my experience with two fellow members of the UTRGV Anthropology Club, who are both scheduled to participate in the spring, so I will be kept relatively in the loop.

To close this essay, I would like to discuss what I feel I have taken, and what any student may take, from this experience. There were many things to be gained from this project, and from service learning in general. At the top of the list would be: experience, knowledge, confidence, stronger partnerships with fellow classmates and the overall feeling of having contributed to something worthwhile. I truly hope that anyone who is familiar with our work has been happy with what we have done. I remain hopeful that the project continues in a manner which brings support to the community and receives support in return.

Site Interpretation

Posted on December 11, 2017 by leah3050

The lessons that Baram’s case study has in regard to the potentials and limits of mobilizing the community around archeology are not taking into account power relations and letting information flow freely, clear sense of local politics, and the significance of heritage within the local communities but also attuning to gender, race, ethnicity, and sexuality and assessment. There are many factors that could impact an organizers ability to mobilize a community around archeology. One should keep all these factors in mind when networking and who are the stakeholders. Having a common goal and finding the role each group plays like preservation and commemoration of the past.
Baram states in his article that, “Organizing is not merely the act of bringing people together or expanding the rolls of professional organizations.” In his article, he mentions Saul Alinsky, who defines not only community organization in giving people sense of power and being able to sustain social change but also role of the organizer. The role of the organizer is said to be that of the outsider, outside of the community which made me think about how we as students are considered outsiders in the Hidalgo County Pauper Cemetery.
In Gonzalez case study in Rosewood, Florida where African Americans were driven out of their homes by the 1923 violence. The people that go visit sites such as these are part of dark tourism that is supposed to make people feel profound emotions. The public that Gonzalez-Tennant is trying to reach not only the public but the archeologists and all the others that are involved in these types of research and documentation, how important it is.
Based on the work Gonzalez-Tennant outlines, the lessons that we can identify about the stories can tell about the cemetery are that there is a lot of heritage and there should be social justice as the people we help identify and reconnect with their families and for those that know their loved one is there and visit them, for them to share their stories that the people buried in the Hidalgo Pauper Cemetery are not forgotten.
The formats that we use are document research and some media applications however we could incorporate the oral histories of the family members. There are other cemeteries that are also doing the same, documenting cemeteries individuals and their histories.
With the different groups involved will lead to different interpretations that could shape the project.

Site Interpretation

Posted on December 11, 2017 by lilith1x

The Hidalgo County Cemetery Project has many potentials in regards to the community. By being expressive, creative, and educative our project can inform the community on the importance of persevering the history of fellow residents of The Rio Grande Valley. During the fall term we have have a handful of encounters with family members of departed found in the cemetery. In some cases we have gained insight of what life was like for the departed and how they came to rest in the Hidalgo County Cemetery. Other interactions assisted locate unmarked graves. Incompancen to Uzi Baram our project yet not hold fear against politics or the desire to be wiped clean for new and better apeeling structures. As in the the archaeological project done by Baram, our class along with Hidalgo County have begun reaching out to our local newspaper and community. Limitations of mobilizing the community are outweighed by the potentials of having eyewitnesses of how the cemetery has changed throughout the years of its existence.

I presume the steps we have taken thus far are small but effective ways to create opportunities for the communities involvement. During our class time (Fridays at 10:40am- 1:10pm) we were able to conduct few interviews on site, as while as being on site during class time, we created informative flyers which explain our class would be placing small numbered flags near visible headstones, as well as a contact information. With the hopes of gathering as much information as we possibly find, we have also involved local funeral homes which do hold some records of individuals found in the cemetery. As the class enters the new spring term of 2018, I would like share our blog with others who hold similar interest and would like to further involve themselves with our project.

Final Reflection

Posted on December 11, 2017 by lilith1x

The Hidalgo County Cemetery was once a forgotten cemetery in 2008, a local newspaper brought back in the thoughts of the community. The article, *“Poor, dead, forgotten: County pledges to care for long-neglected potter’s field” may have been the first stepping stone informing the community of the cemeteries that were in need of care. The County of Hidalgo in retrospect is aiming to provide social justice of the individuals of the cemetery. As they work hard on maintaining the cemetery, as a class we worked to provide as much information for each grave. By combining hands on experiences with weekly articles this class has taught me about public archaeology, Archaeologist, stakeholders, social justice, digital techniques, local history, and the importance of communication between stakeholders and the community.

b7ji2jtceae_z2s — Types of public archaeology as proposed by Gage Moshenska. En español: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CrxXy2oWgAAwrQ7.jpg

Public archaeology holds many meanings, it can provide new and refreshing views on how projects can be conducted with the help of the public. By involving the public within this project our class was able to gain insights on few of the individuals who can be found within the cemetery.

The view placed upon Archaeologist by some create a negative perspective about archeology. Thoughts of archaeologist being disruptive and destructive have been creased from my mind with the help if this project. With the help from Dr Rowe, as a class we have collected data from 100+ graves without causing damage nor injury upon ourselves or the cemetery. As the class collected data, we were able do so with no disruptions to visitors of the Hidalgo County Cemetery as well as visitors of Hillcrest Memorial Park.

In the beginning this project had few stakeholders which were, the workers involved with the cemetery from Hidalgo county. As the project moved on the county requested assistance from the University Of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Accepting the request to assist UTRGV along with Dr. Sarah M. Rowe, created a public archaeology class. In turn Dr. Rowe’s ANTH 4385/6385 class became part of the stakeholders of this eminence project. Being a stakeholder of this project has giving me great joy over this Fall term.Knowing this class will further my college career while giving back to the community is an experience I will never forget.

By using other projects for insights, we have encountered similar circumstances and goals such as, using mapping techniques, using digital data collection techniques, as well as other means of locating unmarked graves. With few community members that have knowledge of the individuals founded in the Hidalgo County Cemetery we lack information on many graves, some which have headstones and others that have gone unmarked and were only found by the assistance provided by specially trained cadaver dogs.

With social justice being one of the many goals of the project a sense of pride has arisen within me. As I stated before, this project has not only has provided my with new information, it has also taught me how important the preservation of historic sites. Preserving sites like the Hidalgo County Cemetery is important not only to the family members of the decrease but it also holds importance to the community. With the data collected we can conduct research, research which may hold insightful details of the former residents of the Rio Grande Valley found in the cemetery. Using the data collected we compare death dates may assets research of deadly outbreaks such as the influenza outbreak of 1918.

Using this blog and other means of technology to further enhance the way we collect data has made it possible to provide the information gathered available to the public. At the end of this term we have yet to complete the mapping of the Hidalgo County Cemetery. Once the mapping of the cemetery is complete we hope to create a mapping system that would be available online and similar to the mapping done for the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Historic-era Cemetery.**

As we create more opportunities for the community to get involved this project will create positive relationships between the residents of the Rio Grande Valley who hold interest within the cemetery, the county of Hidalgo, and University Of Texas Rio Grande Valley. As the project has progressed, the members of the community which we have spoken to, have assisted in locating unmarked graves, explaining how the deceased found their resting place in the cemetery and how life was before the deceased passed.

The fall term of 2017, has been full of insightful readings, hands on experiences, creative thinking, and teamwork. Giving to the community as well as learning new and different archaeological skills has been an amazing experience. With the help from the Hidalgo County this project is and will further produce remembrance for the deceased.

*http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/article_a5af4d11-45ba-5cbd-8558-5558996ef8ed.html

**http://mortuarymapping.matrix.msu.edu/index.html

Site Interpretation

Posted on December 11, 2017 by befreebutterfly22

In his discussion of opening up what happened to Rosewood through the use of the internet a virtual reality-type program, Gonzalez-Tennant discusses how he hopes to use the virtual reality-type program Second Life to better inform the general populace of different things that are happening around the world. This can be especially useful to us because there may be more foot traffic on an online website than if people were to have to show up in person. This in turn relates to what Baram was saying in his article about conservation. In order to better conserve a site and a community, the use a virtual reality program such as Second Life, is vastly helpful because people are able to explore new areas and gain an understanding of the area and thus may be more likely to respect the area they are going to. If we end up using a virtual reality-type program for our project, we would need to find one that suits our project and one that can be easily accessible to general public. We would also need to find a way to advertise our project in such a way that the people who would be directly affected by the project would then be able to know what is being done and have a way to stay updated on the project.

Digital Techniques in Public Archeology

Posted on December 11, 2017 by leah3050

The Hidalgo Country Pauper Cemetery Project right now has taken the broadcast approach however if we get more of the community involved with the collection of data it will shift to the participatory approach. The broadcasting approach is one-way which makes it difficult to get feedback and the participatory requires the help of the community. The project is being conducted by university students many who will become professionals in anthropology and archeology but in order for it to be participatory there needs to be participation form the public. With the use of technology rather than having the “professional” or the “amateur” there will be more of an importance on the skills and knowledge in that certain area and use of technology. There may be a barrier that will prevent the use of technology and that is the funds to acquire some of this technology.
In order to move towards a more collaborative, co-creative, or hosted methods of engagement we would have to maybe find other ways to lessen the barrier in the broadcasting of our information. We are using blogs right now but maybe we could expand that and include other forms of media and websites to not only broadcast but create an inclusive interpretation of the data and encourage people to participate. As we get community members to participate with the collection of the data we must take into account what programs we use and how that will change the dynamics between the people involved. There must be other types of technologies that could be incorporated with the project that would allow us to gather more data for interpretation.
The benefits of 3D technology provide to a public archeology project is what we cannot see above the surface, allowing us to see what lies beneath. The 3D technology also is a form of mapping out the individual graves and their proximity to one another. There was a disadvantage in using technology in the case of recording the data using our phones was complicated somewhat when there was no internet connection and the system did not register our input. When recording data whether it be on a machine or paper we must be careful not to lose it. In class, we were taught how the 3D scanner worked but the process was time consuming and slow moving as it required steady hands to operate. The 3D imaging would have made a big difference in how the project would have gone, giving us more information that we would not have been able to gather otherwise. The pitfall of using 3D imaging would be that there will not always be accurate because there might be some interference that will change our perception of the 3D image. There is another downside of using certain technology and that is that not everyone knows how to use it. There are advantages though with a 3D view we would be able to recreate some of the missing parts and get a general idea of what the entirety looks like.

Final Reflection

Posted on December 11, 2017 by criticalmistake

Our very first blog post was about each member of the class identifying what “public archaeology” meant to them and with slight doubt in my initial post I found myself to be proven wrong. I mentioned that I felt public archaeology was more of a concept in which we bring a community together to find solid research and maintaining communication with the public for what has been discovered. There was not full confidence in this statement because I personally felt unsure the public would become aware of our project as quickly as they had. To my surprise and satisfaction, members of the community were in fact aware of the project we had begun and were thrilled to hear of our efforts. I was unaware of the amount of communication and collaboration it would require for our project to excel as quickly as it had. As a group we gathered occasional volunteers, collaboration with archives, human remains detection dogs and the general community becoming aware of the mission we set out for ourselves. Just in the first semester of working on the Hidalgo County Public Cemetery Project (HCPCP) the course has been able to branch out to various people, even professionals in other states, and this remains to only be the beginning of our project. With outside efforts, we have been able to learn more of the cemetery than beyond what is on the surface.

My perspective of the overall objective of HCPCP is to benefit those who lost loved ones as well as bring a sense of justice to those who are deceased and have gone unmarked or neglected. I can confidently state our motives are of the most genuine and it has been very interesting to experience technological techniques while creating a sense of a bond with the descriptions on marked, and even unmarked, graves. Typically, I am a believer that though technology is wonderful it is consuming too much of our lives and we have become reliant on it despite it not always being reliable. However, while working on this project I have been capable of bending my belief in understanding that the equipment is incredibly helpful. Some individuals within the class were granted the opportunity to digitally mark grave dimensions with advanced technologies while others documented information of each grave. There have been occasional run-ins with technology, where we are set to re-mark graves, that soon become tedious and slows down our progress but balances when I am reminded that we are benefitting other individuals. Through my observations, I have become aware that the project is primarily technological based for items on surface level, however the human remains detection dogs were useful in discovering what is below surface level. This benefitted our project but allowing us to acknowledge the graves that have gone beyond unmarked and resulted in being entirely unknown. Unfortunately, with respect to the deceased and their loved ones I am unsure of a way we could distinguish these individuals but we can now note there is a grave in areas that appear to be nothing but ground.

Contrary to my usual opposition of technology, I find as though technology is greatly improving and allowing for more accurate research. With possibilities of a drone in our research future it could provide a more accurate scaling of the public cemetery and improve our research findings. This is especially helpful for graves the human remains detection dogs discovered. Hopefully in the future of the HCPCP we can utilize more outside, physical help to provide a more accurate representation of the cemetery as we have worked on it. Additionally, I hope for a lively looking cemetery. The borders of the Hidalgo County Public Cemetery, other cemeteries, appear to be more “attractive” to the eye, thus I hope in the near future we will be able to offer a similar appearing cemetery so there is no sense of neglect and disinterest.

A small thought has lingered through my mind and it is the attempt we may make in meeting the needs of the public. As an individual in a group project I have acknowledged our goal contributes to involving the public, though at this very moment there is not much involvement from the public. This is entirely acceptable, for we have just begun our project, though in the future will public and archaeological methods and/or ideas clash when deciding what is best for the cemetery? From my individual stand point I view this to potentially slow down the research process in which there will be continues lessons to be taught for new individuals involved in the project. However, there is a very strong possibility it could improve the project, as well. With outside perspectives from individuals who may have nearly no knowledge of archaeology, their inputs could guide our research into an unforeseen, positive direction. I feel as though the primary focus in caring for the cemetery should stem from putting yourself in the perspective of which your loved one is buried in this exact or a similar cemetery. It is then that the best public understanding and changes to what is the “now” could be made.

Finally, the amount of effort and collaboration that is required for this project to become successful is outstanding and entirely worth the effort. There is a bunch of support on the project that has been developed and the few interviews that have approached the group with questions have been more than kind and ecstatic. There are individuals that have asked to remain informed or have reached out to an individual and provided names for us to look out for. Minor, yet helpful, requests have been established and, as stated earlier, with this being the barely the beginning of our project the final outcome will be incredible. Personally, I look forward to the project development as well as the technology development that will be made to aid in creating the most accurate, realistic, digital display of the Hidalgo County Public Cemetery in years to come.

Site Interpretation

Posted on December 11, 2017 by criticalmistake

Uzi Baram writes about his experience with a former Florida colony and in doing so he addresses another individuals research. Baram began with explaining the connection between working with communities and the transitions that are to be made. Often “community organizing” is mentioned and despite the initial thought upon this term it influences building alliances. For community organizing to be successful you must expand from socio-politics to local politics. There is some notice that there is a collaborative continuum in “an act and a practice” that influences scholars working with more individuals that would consider the work a different sort of activity. Baram acknowledges Saul Alinsky (not an archaeologist) and explains that Alinsky sharpened tactics in allowing the community to believe they are building up social change. In Bradenton, Baram explains the city accidentally sold their park and when admitting this mistake a columnist named Tom Lyons question why the city wanted the park back. Through his opinion he believed the city should allow for positive caretakers to remain taking care of the park. The objective through community organizing is primarily about conservation of sites that have the potential to be lost. A group of professionals and locals network to bring more individuals together, including government and non-governmental organizations, together to preserve regions. Baram states, “The process, ideally, includes jointly negotiated approaches using archeo-heritage for building community and social justice.” For today’s perspective, there is now notice towards race, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality to better succeed at reaching the needs of each individual.

Through my understanding Gonzalez-Tennant is attempting to reach the general public of those utilizing online technology as their source of information. Through this I feel we could identify stories about the cemetery where individuals have not been entirely blessed throughout their lives. There are the occasional individuals that have outstanding marking for their loved ones with new offerings while a large majority of the others appear to have been neglected and not kept up with. Though the project we have begun is to increase knowledge of those who have gone forgotten or unnoticed I concluded there are many deceased individuals that are entirely unaware of. Virtual realities are explored through the reading and beginning with our technology advancement there will soon be an opportunity for our project to also become a version of virtual reality. Often when individuals pass away they are forgotten, this is no secret, though with archives and live through the internet these individuals remain alive. This allows for people all over to discover new, interesting stories from various locations and the legacy of people will continue to thrive, regardless of not being entirely knowledgeable of an individual personally. The research that is compiled is going to result in the way others see certain deceased individuals that have gone unheard of thus this allows for a sense of a “second life”. Continuing to document the individuals we discovery is a positive way to keep our personal experiences of the cemetery alive as well as the individual we discovered.