Greenlawn Cemetery Memorial Park & Garden

Greenlawn Cemetery was established along the White River in 1821 as Indianapolis' very first public cemetery. Many of the city's early Black pioneers were buried in the cemetery's "colored" section and it is a possibility that many of them may still be buried there. I firmly believe this project is award-worthy because it aims to recognize those who remained buried there for over two centuries and prevent the Black heritage that remains on the site from being erased any further. As I pursue a career in landscape architecture dedicated to advancing the profession's ability to reverse the erasure of cultural heritage, I believe this project will also serve as inspiration for those who wish to do the same.

Greenlawn Cemetery was Indianapolis' very first public burial ground, opening in 1821. The city's earliest black residents buried were buried there in the cemetery's "colored" section. However, after reviewing a 500-page document containing the Marion County death records from 1872-1881, I noticed that reinterment locations were left blank for many of the African Americans buried at Greenlawn when it closed in 1890. In contrast, almost all white individuals on the list had their reinterment locations included. This information gave rise to growing concerns as the site was originally set to become the new home of a billion dollar mixed-use development in 2023. The project was eventually discontinued when developers discovered that there were human remains still buried on the premises.

While it is unclear how many individuals are still buried there, recent excavations efforts by the city have resulted in the discovery of over 1,700 grave shafts containing human remains and artifacts, and there is a real possibility that many of those grave shafts may belong to the city's residents of African American descent. Despite these ongoing excavation efforts, the future of this historic property remains unknown. Taking this into account, over the past three years, I was inspired to develop a thesis proposal to reimagine Indianapolis' first public cemetery as a memorial park and garden in order to permanently honor those whose stories have remained buried on site since the 1820s.

While working on this project, I couldn't help but admire the sense of poetic remembrance it exuded. Despite attempts to erase parts of Greenlawn's past, this history always found its way into the community's memory through oral histories, old news publications, and historical evidence uncovered by developers-challenging narratives that intentionally left out underrepresented and marginalized perspectives. This observation inspired me to reinterpret my historical research and data into poems that could inspire creative action and advocacy. I then decided to use this form of poetry as a guide for designing a poetic landscape that could remember what history forgets. Ultimately, this project underscores my desire to lead by example as an advocate for inclusivity, creative altruism, and sustainable practices within the landscape architecture profession.

• Ann Hildner, Professor/Mentor - Ball State University College of Architecture and Planning - Departement of Landscape Architecture
• April Westcott, Professor/Mentor - Ball State University College of Architecture and Planning - Departement of Landscape Architecture
• Eunice Trotter, Black Heritage Preservation Program Director /Mentor - Indiana Landmarks