St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Buchtel, Ohio
Campus and community members are invited to become an anthropologist for a day with a day-long hands-on experience titled Anthropology Alive at the Buchtel Cemetery on Saturday, Aug. 27.
The workshop is sponsored by the Little Cities of Black Diamonds Council and co-presented by The Winding Road and the Ohio University Sociology & Anthropology Department.
Spaces are still available for this workshop by registering online or by contacting the Little Cities Council at 740-394-3011 or lcbdohio@gmail.com. Registration of $55 includes the cost of the morning workshop, van transportation to the field site and a catered lunch from Fullbrooks Café in Nelsonville. Preregistration is required, preferably no later than Wednesday, Aug. 24.
The workshop begins and ends at Ohio University’s Baker Center with lunch and field research at a Catholic church and cemetery in the northern Athens County community of Buchtel. The workshop begins at 10 a.m., and participants will be back in Athens by 4 p.m.
About the Appalachia Population History Project
“Begun two years ago, the Appalachia Population History Project is a long-term research project with the aim of examining local history and culture,” says Dr. Nancy Tatarek, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Ohio University.
The project combines archival, genealogy research and cemetery field studies to form a picture of local population history. The project has recently included focused attention on the health and medical records of coal miners and their families in the Little Cities of Black Diamonds community of Buchtel, located near Nelsonville.
“Participants will learn how such research is conducted, receive a brief training session focusing on the project and its research and by afternoon become part of the research team,” says Tatarek, who will provide a short synopsis of field research techniques. She and her students will help participants locate the records and history of one of the historical families in the project. After the classroom session, the group will move to St. Patrick’s Cemetery to connect the records with the stones found there.
“Anthropologists examine humans and human culture in all their diversity. What we learn about the past can influence contemporary decision making,” she added.
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