Talk:Monument Cemetery

Blogs

There are a number of blog posts about the cemetery which may not be fit for direct citation but useful for research. See, e.g., [1][2].--Milowent • ^hasspoken 19:39, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Mass grave at Lawnview Memorial Park

I don't want to be accused of edit warring - but changes have been made to the page by @Micaturtle: with statements such as "I have seen the markers at Lawnview" and referencing a YouTube video where it is discussed offhand by two video bloggers. I have reincluded the statement that over 27,000 bodies were moved to a mass grave at Lawnview and it is referenced by the Kyriakodis article from hiddencityphila.org. Not clear on usage of YouTube as a reference but it is my understanding that first hand research is not valid. I would ask Micaturtle to find a stronger reference before removing Kyriakodis again. Dwkaminski (talk) 13:35, 28 June 2022 (UTC)

Okay, the youtube video in question actually talks to/interviews the curators of the cemetery. (see at about the 10:40 mark where he talks about the re-burial, and what he heard about the reburials from the curator) - Also, I don't see anything about a "mass grave" in the https://hiddencityphila.org/2014/10/the-missing-namesake-of-north-phillys-lost-necropolis/ link.... Am I looking at the wrong one? The only thing I see in there is "Some 28,000 bodies were re-interred at Lawnview Cemetery at 500 Huntingdon Pike in Montgomery County. About 300 of these 28,000 bodies were reburied with their original tombstones because family members could be located." The only info about mass graves is in the comments.

The other reason I think the info about the "mass grave" needs to be removed is because any references to it being a mass grave are usually only in uncredited "anonymous" comments on these blogs.

Finally, according to http://thecemeterytraveler.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-odd-end-to-philadelphias-odd.html - The mass grave thing is really only a rumor. The blog article itself doesn't talk about it, but the comments mention that in order to find some of the flat bronze grave markers, sometimes a metal detector is needed. (like this one - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/70003177/elie-vallette that had to be dug up by a relative)

I'm not saying the staff of Lawnview are perfect, but they certainly didn't throw everyone into a mass grave. They buried each person individually (or sometimes by family, if the original plot had more than one body buried in it) and then provided a bronze flat marker, many of which have disappeared into the grass and dirt over the years.

PS referring to a professional youtuber as a "Some college kids" is rather demeaning (https://www.themobileinstinct.com/who-am-i) and truly shows ignorance. Micaturtle (talk) 15:07, 3 July 2022 (UTC)

• I will revert my "some college kids" comments and apologize. I've just never seen YouTube listed as a reference but cannot find any rationale why it should not be included. I'll update the language in the article to match Kyriakodis article more closely. I've included cemetery traveler as an external link but those types of blogs are not usually solid resources. I've been reverted so many times for using Findagrave that I know for a fact that is not a valid reference. No judgement on the staff at Lawnview. Dwkaminski (talk) 11:35, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

  Found a reference for the mass grave at Lawnview - https://www.google.com/books/edition/Magical_Destinations_of_the_Northeast/2fEJDQAAQBAJ Dwkaminski (talk) 19:15, 25 October 2022 (UTC)