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November 2008 Current Exhibit Strengthens Ties between Legacy, Old City Cemetery Thanks to Ted Delaney, archivist and curator at the Old City Cemetery, Legacy's current exhibit, "For Our Own Good," includes information about dozens of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century burial societies and fraternal organizations formed by local African Americans in the decades following the Civil War. The information is recorded in handwritten burial records kept by the Diuguid Funeral Home between 1820 and 1950. Before the Civil War, Diuguid was Lynchburg's only undertaker, and until World War I the Diuguid Funeral Home buried a substantial majority of the City's residents, both white and black. When a benevolent organization or fraternal order paid for the burial of an individual, the organization's name became part of the Diuguid record. In many cases, the burial record is the only remaining evidence that an organization existed. "For Our Own Good" displays copies of a dozen Diuguid burial records. The records name such African American organizations as the Female Colored Benevolent Society, the Society of Adopted Daughters, the United Band of Sisters, Covenant Lodge No. 121 of F & A Masons, Magnolia Council No. 57 Independent Order of St. Luke, Silver Moon Lodge No. 87 Good Samaritans, Ancient Order of Knights of Jerusalem West Hill Union No. 12, and United Order of True Reformers. All these groups were active between 1875 and 1883. Along with burial records, grave-markers in the Old City Cemetery also record African Americans' membership in national fraternal organizations such as the Independent Order of St. Luke, Masons, Eastern Star, Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows, and True Reformers. Ted Delaney's images of grave-markers with fraternal symbols, printed and mounted by staff at the Design Group, are also displayed as part of "For Our Own Good." Legacy has benefitted from information, images, and expertise provided by the Old City Cemetery since the Museum's first exhibit in 2000, when volunteer Gloria Franklin, a member of the OCC board, brought images of and information about Cemetery inhabitants to Legacy Collection Committee meetings. Since then, Ted Delaney has also served as a committee member and researcher. The tie between OCC and Legacy is a natural one, since the two sites are located next-door to each other and since both organizations interpret local African American history. Three-quarters of the graves in the Old City Cemetery are those of African Americans. `
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