Vernacular Memorials of Delaware County - A Virginia Ball Center Seminar

In Loving Memory A Study of Vernacular Memorials in Delaware County
About our Project	About the Book	About the Map
During our seminar, we produced three major products of our research and investigation. The first, a metadocumentary, told the story of our work as seen on the Project page, and was handled by a team of two students. The second is an interactive Google Earth map that marks every roadside memorial in Delaware County. But the bulk of our work was channelled into crafting a collaborative book, titled "In Loving Memory: A Study of Vernacular Memorials in Delaware County." The 120-page book is the culmination of several months' time and effort in research, investigation, interviewing, photography, and writing, and involved all fourteen students in the composition of the essays and photographs contained within its pages. The book begins with an introduction followed by four sections: Spaces, Bodies, Performances, and Commerce. The Spaces section provides an introduction to the theory of grief, and how individuals learn to cope with the loss of a loved one. Building memorials is one way that humans have learned to overcome grief, and the type of memorial varies from ornate and personalized to simple and anonymous. This section draws on our knowledge gained during the D.C. trip to highlight the official memorials, like the Fallen Heroes Bridge, within Muncie, but also dedicates its time to the roadside crosses that dot the Delaware landscape. Some memorials, like the one for "Denim" David Smith, are personalized with wreaths, plaques, and other memorabilia; others, like some of the crosses, bear no name or decoration at all. Like the person whose death they mark, these crosses are unique, and perhaps representative of the person lost. The Bodies section carries on the theme of personalization, but in a different location: on the body. Tattoos, like the crosses, carry their own special weight, and provide options for customization that can suit both the lost loved one and the new bearer of the tattoo. However, they differ from crosses in that they cannot be visited and then left behind. The tattoo is carried with that person, a constant visible reminder that grief, in whatever form, is carried with the living. While the section looks at theory of memorial tattoos, stories of individuals like Brandon Stamp provide visceral examples of the "scars" that grief can leave behind. The Performances section shifts away from the individual to look at a different type of memorial, one that engages the individual in a group setting. The term "performative memorial" can refer to such events as the Garth Walk--a tribute to the unsolved murder of Garth Rector that ends in a balloon release--or to A Walk Down Memory Lane, an event organized by Johnny Strong that highlights the faces of those in the community who have passed, either naturally or by violent crimes. But the idea is the same: these events are meant to provide an outlet for grief, to make aware the loss of life to those beyond the family, and to share the pain so that the burden may be lessened over time. These memorials are just one more way that life, and lives lost, can be remembered. The Commerce section takes the opportunity to delve deeply into the idea of memorialization and why the types of memorials have diversified over time. The section brings to the book further forms of memorialization, including rubber bracelets, custom car decals, and memorial T-shirts, and analyzes how the business of memorials became just that: a business, designed to answer the needs of the public, who continue to look for new ways to personalize the memorialization process, with a supply of new products that adequately meet the needs of the grieving. They must do more than provide goods to the public; they must also provide a service. That service is the healing process, a service that all memorials in this book provide. With these memorials, we have ever-expanding ways to heal.
© 2011. Courtesy of Ball State University and the Virginia Ball Center.

In Loving Memory

A Study of Vernacular Memorials in Delaware County

During our seminar, we produced three major products of our research and investigation. The first, a metadocumentary, told the story of our work as seen on the Project page, and was handled by a team of two students. The second is an interactive Google Earth map that marks every roadside memorial in Delaware County. But the bulk of our work was channelled into crafting a collaborative book, titled "In Loving Memory: A Study of Vernacular Memorials in Delaware County." The 120-page book is the culmination of several months' time and effort in research, investigation, interviewing, photography, and writing, and involved all fourteen students in the composition of the essays and photographs contained within its pages. The book begins with an introduction followed by four sections: Spaces, Bodies, Performances, and Commerce.

The Spaces section provides an introduction to the theory of grief, and how individuals learn to cope with the loss of a loved one. Building memorials is one way that humans have learned to overcome grief, and the type of memorial varies from ornate and personalized to simple and anonymous. This section draws on our knowledge gained during the D.C. trip to highlight the official memorials, like the Fallen Heroes Bridge, within Muncie, but also dedicates its time to the roadside crosses that dot the Delaware landscape. Some memorials, like the one for "Denim" David Smith, are personalized with wreaths, plaques, and other memorabilia; others, like some of the crosses, bear no name or decoration at all. Like the person whose death they mark, these crosses are unique, and perhaps representative of the person lost.

The Bodies section carries on the theme of personalization, but in a different location: on the body. Tattoos, like the crosses, carry their own special weight, and provide options for customization that can suit both the lost loved one and the new bearer of the tattoo. However, they differ from crosses in that they cannot be visited and then left behind. The tattoo is carried with that person, a constant visible reminder that grief, in whatever form, is carried with the living. While the section looks at theory of memorial tattoos, stories of individuals like Brandon Stamp provide visceral examples of the "scars" that grief can leave behind.

The Performances section shifts away from the individual to look at a different type of memorial, one that engages the individual in a group setting. The term "performative memorial" can refer to such events as the Garth Walk--a tribute to the unsolved murder of Garth Rector that ends in a balloon release--or to A Walk Down Memory Lane, an event organized by Johnny Strong that highlights the faces of those in the community who have passed, either naturally or by violent crimes. But the idea is the same: these events are meant to provide an outlet for grief, to make aware the loss of life to those beyond the family, and to share the pain so that the burden may be lessened over time. These memorials are just one more way that life, and lives lost, can be remembered.

The Commerce section takes the opportunity to delve deeply into the idea of memorialization and why the types of memorials have diversified over time. The section brings to the book further forms of memorialization, including rubber bracelets, custom car decals, and memorial T-shirts, and analyzes how the business of memorials became just that: a business, designed to answer the needs of the public, who continue to look for new ways to personalize the memorialization process, with a supply of new products that adequately meet the needs of the grieving. They must do more than provide goods to the public; they must also provide a service. That service is the healing process, a service that all memorials in this book provide. With these memorials, we have ever-expanding ways to heal.