Week 2: Working Safely

Introduction

This week, I am asking you to go out into your community and find a historic graveyard to work on. There was a graveyard in the middle of a field not far from the childhood home of a friend of mine. Who owned it? Who was responsible for it? Whose field was it in? Today, that field has been built over, with a couple of big box stores and a Tim Horton’s. The graveyard is still there, around back behind some dumpsters. It’s mostly overgrown, but periodically somebody hacks back some of the brush and picks up the garbage. Down in the south end of Ottawa in Riverside South, there is a historic graveyard in a corner of a city park, and the city keeps it clean and mows the lawn.

Both of these graveyards should be studied, but one of these is a safer place to work than the other.

Things to consider

This means that you will have to consider a number of elements before you go out:

1. Can I actually get to the graveyard?
2. Is it possible to work out who is responsible for the graveyard? If I see a graveyard called ‘Anytown United Cemetery’ then I would look for the Anytown United Church and contact its office. Similarly for the Anytown Roman Catholic or the Anytown Free Methodist and so on.
3. Small historic graveyards are often family cemeteries, and might be in a field or parcel of land belonging to the family. Or it might belong to someone else. You can explore historical land registry books (the link is for the City of Ottawa, but you can switch that) to find out the older history of the site.
4. Do not trespass.
5. Obtain permission to survey the graveyard; speak to an individual rather than writing (you’ll get a quicker response). Use this form of words:

I would like to ask for permission to do a study of the grave monuments in [name of cemetery], as part of my coursework. This would involve photographing and measuring the stones. I will not be interfering with the stones or any of the planting or landscape. I believe it should not take me more than three or four days. The information I collect will be used in my class and ideally will be made online for other students in my class to use. I can put you in contact with my Professor, Dr. Shawn Graham, if you have any questions about that aspect of the work.

Be Polite and Be Reasonable. It’s not the church or community group’s problem that I have asked you to do this. Do not say to them, ‘I need to get this done by tomorrow because the work is due.’ That’s your problem, not theirs. Remember that I have provided you with other options, and that there is time flexibility here. You might write to someone at the start of week 2, and then end up going out later in September or early October. Document this. We can deal with this. Keep me informed.

If you can’t find the owner, or they decline your request, then do not survey that particular graveyard.

HOWEVER: The Moodie Family Cemetery in Claudette Cain Park in Riverside South can be studied for this class without needing permission. You can get there on public transport by taking Line 2 to Limebank station (the end of the line) and then the 70 bus (the park is at the corner of the Strandherd-Armstrong bridge, also known as the ‘Vimy Bridge’.)

Conducting the Survey: Personal Safety

1. Do not go alone; take a companion
2. Let people know where you are going, and when, and when you believe you will return
3. Take a cellphone with you
4. Bring water
5. Wear sunscreen
6. Wear appropriate clothing for a graveyard. Appropriate means ‘suitable to the task’; if the graveyard is overgrown, wear long pants and socks (ticks are a very real issue in Ontario). Similarly, if the graveyard is still active, there may well be mourners present and so be respectful.
7. You represent the University. Conduct yourself accordingly. Do not sit on gravestones, put your lunch on a stone, or otherwise interfere with a grave.

If you cannot follow these instructions for whatever reason, do the alternative project.

Conducting the Survey Itself

For instructions on how to conduct the survey itself, please begin by sketching the plan of the graveyard, and then how to record the graves

Safety Online in the Case of Virtual Sites

If you do the alternative project and the site you select features opportunities for online interactions, please take care; if it’s possible, create a character or use an account unrelated to your other online activities. Don’t engage with other players: ideally you want to be an observer in the space, rather than an active participant.