Sharing the latest news from the Coalition for American Heritage - "African Burial Grounds Network Study Act" - 2021 - To be introduced by Senator Sherrod Brown and Senator Tim Scott

From:

Kelly Lizarraga, Advocacy Coordinator
Coalition for American Heritage
Cultural Heritage Partners, PLLC
Email address:
 kellyl@culturalheritagepartners.com
Direct/Text: 703-913-4818 

www.heritagecoalition.org

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" Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) are preparing to introduce the African American Burial Ground Network Study in the U.S. Senate -- possibly as early as tomorrow. Will your group sign the attached letter of support for this legislation? 

Please respond by email ASAP so that we may include your group in the press materials announcing the introduction of the bill. We'd like to include as many groups as possible to demonstrate the breadth of support for this legislation. We invite you to share this email with other groups who might want to add their names in support as well. 

For those who signed the support letter last year, please note that this bill differs somewhat from the legislation that was introduced in the last Congress and passed by the Senate in December 2020. This bill directs the Secretary of the Interior to study how to identify, interpret, and preserve historic African American burial grounds. 

It authorizes $2.5 million to conduct the study and requires the results to be presented to Congress within three years of the money being made available. I have attached a copy of the revised legislation for your review."

We are thrilled that this bill is being introduced, and grateful to Senators Brown and Scott for their leadership and commitment to this important issue. Thanks to all of you for your ongoing support of these efforts. 

If you have any questions, or if you'd like to discuss the bill further, please feel free to call or email Kelly Lizarraga 703-913-4818 or KellyL@culturalheritagepartners.com at the Coalition for American Heritage.

Sharing the latest additions to the links for Ohio WPA Cemetery Plat Maps - March 2 2021

 The "always a work in progress project" - since 2013 - of initially locating and subsequently sharing the WPA Cemetery Plat Maps for Ohio's counties continues with the recent additions of FLICKR map collections of images of cemeteries in Logan County and Erie County  They are a work in progress themselves, however; I am still excited to share this news about them.  

These 1930s era cemetery plat maps have deteriorated over these many decades.  Some to the point where the names and dates are fading and have become difficult to read due to their darkened condition.   

The original map pages are quite large.  These pages were placed in hardbound binders and given to county recorder's offices in Ohio.  As we have become aware, some county's maps are missing and unaccounted for, while others have been moved to various local facilities for storage.  Fortunately, a few have been posted online in various formats. 

Sadly, though, some originals have been sitting unnoticed on top of cabinets gathering dust. Also, they might be kept in less than ideal indoor climate conditions. The negative effectives of which are hastening their deterioration.

On a brighter note, however, I wish to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to Mr. John Kolb for his help in enhancing and cleaning up the pages for the Bellefontaine Cemetery in Logan County, and the Ohio Soldiers & Sailors Home Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio.  

The enhancements John applied to these map pages improved their appearance greatly making the details more clear and readable.

Below is a sample of a "before enhancement" and "after enhancement" of the same WPA Cemetery Map page.:

So, please check back for more additions to the collections of Ohio county WPA Cemetery Plat Maps listed on the right sidebar of the blog. 

Hopefully, some of these maps will be of help to those who are searching for veteran burials at Ohio's cemeteries!