The bodies found under and around the Chapel in Oakwood cemetery are getting monuments this month!
In 2016, during the rehabilitation of the Oakwood Cemetery Chapel, archeologists monitoring construction discovered burials below and around where the chapel was built. After community engagement in 2017, archaeologists exhumed remains from 36 men, women and children. The bio-archaeology report was completed in 2020, and the Parks and Recreation Department held a two-day symposium to share this knowledge with the public. The Oakwood Chapel produced a digital exhibit as well, which can be reviewed along with the videos from the symposium.
In 2021, after the DNA samples were extracted from the remains of the adult burials, these individuals were reinterred along the west side of the Oakwood Chapel with an interfaith blessing ceremony.
The Parks and Recreation Department committed to placing monuments for these burials, which will be installed this spring, planned for April 2023.
