Research and Community Meet in the Cemetery: Engaged scholarship in Louisville’s abandoned and under-resourced burial places

Presenter:Angela Storey – Department of Anthropology, College of Arts & Sciences, Aaron Comstock – Department of Anthropology, College of Arts & Sciences, Felicia Jamison – Department of History/COMP Humanities, Thomas Jennings – Department of Anthropology, College of Arts & Sciences, Kathryn Marklein – Department of Anthropology, College of Arts & Sciences, Jacqui Zaczek – Grad student, Depart of Anthropology, College of Arts & Sciences, Board member – Friends of Eastern Cemetery, Community member – Petersburg Newburg Cemetery group, Student – Petersburg Newburg Research

Metro Louisville is home to more than 100 abandoned historic cemeteries and many further under-resourced burial grounds. In this roundtable, community members as well as faculty and students from Anthropology, History, and Comparative Humanities discuss two community-engaged research projects focused on documenting cemetery histories and examining their current material and social conditions. Projects focus on Eastern Cemetery and Petersburg Newburg Cemetery, and researchers work in close collaboration with community groups that provide maintenance, care, and forms of remembrance for those buried in each site. The roundtable will address the opportunities, challenges, and importance of engaged work on this topic.