Current Affairs: Protests Arise as a Forlorn Cemetery is Dug Up to Make Way for a High School Football Field

Please take a moment to read the article by Michael E. Ruane on the front page of today's Washington Post entitled, In Virginia, protests arise as a forlorn cemetery is dug up to make way for high school football.  

Fair to both the PWCS and the Lynn Family, the article is also the first real indication of what was (and was not) found during the excavation of the graves.  

Philip B. Kavits, spokesperson for PWCS, says that the School Board has "...expressed a commitment to consult further with the community . . . and to work with the Lynn family, if appropriate.”

"If appropriate" is an interesting phrase.  It implies that, without a DNA link or written proof of a Lynn family connection -- something more concrete than the circumstantial evidence found in land records and deed books  -- that PWCS would carry on with their original plan to reinter the remains on the far Western side of the County.  I hope that is not the case, and that PWCS will do the right, compassionate, and descent thing by reinterring the remains somewhere on the original land.

I find hope in the article's interview with the archaeologists who excavated the remains.  "...Sipe, the archaeologist, said the old cemetery has been carefully mapped and the fieldstone grave markers saved.  He said it’s possible that the cemetery’s original configuration — burial locations and stone markers — could be re-created with high accuracy elsewhere."

The school system will host a public meeting on the reinterment at 7 p.m. Dec. 16 in its administrative headquarters, the Edward L. Kelly Leadership Center, in Manassas.  If you, Gentle Reader, are in or near PWCo, please plan to attend.  

To quote Mr. Ruane:  "...So whoever was buried on the ridge outside Manassas more than 100 years ago can rest in peace again."

Exactly.