Thread by @Dupreezine

Hi everyone, I’ll be live-tweeting the Unearthing the Past at Henry Street Bridge event presented by @IndianaLandmark at 6:00 p.m. for #IndyDocumenters. Media Partners: @indydocumenters @mirrorindy

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy The event is being held at the Indiana Landmarks Center and on Zoom. The event focuses on archaeology connected to the Henry Street Bridge project and discoveries at Indianapolis’s historic Greenlawn Cemetery. 🧵

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy The Henry Street Bridge project is moving forward near the site of Greenlawn Cemetery, where archaeologists have found evidence tied to the area’s layered past, including burial sites of some of Indianapolis’s earliest residents. 🌉🧱🪦

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy The meeting is starting now!! 🎬 President & CEO Brad Ward is opening the meeting.

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy Executive Vice President, Suzanne Stannis, who will be executive Vice President for three more days, when she will be retiring after 41 years with Indiana Landmarks, is speaking on the offerings of the Center and introducing the documentary trailer.

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy Natalie van Dongen - Director of Community Outreach with the City of Indianapolis is up next. She states, "White River Innovation District project has become far more than an infrastructure effort." The conversation has created this engagement today.

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy More than 1700 grave shafts have been unearthed during this process. 🪦

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy Tonight’s program begins with a preview of an upcoming documentary on Greenlawn Cemetery produced by Studio Auteur. 🎥 After that, there will be a panel discussion with filmmaker Jerald Harkness, archaeologists, and members of the Community Advisory Group. 🎙️

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy A major theme tonight: how Indianapolis handles development when the ground beneath a project holds deep history, community memory, and human remains. 🏗️🕯️

That is not just infrastructure. That is stewardship. 🌉🤲

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy The documentary trailer is underway.

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy Greenlawn Cemetery is not just an old site on a map. It is connected to the lives of early Indianapolis residents, and tonight’s conversation centers on how archaeology can help tell those stories responsibly. 🗺️🧱🕯️

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy "We had said previously, based off of the limited information that we had, that we were at 650. We are beyond the 650 that was based off of when people were asking how many."

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy The handwritten letter read by DeeDee Davis is so moving from the perspective of a small child questioning the gravesite of her deceased grandfather. Deedee Davis is a digital archivist for Herron School of Art and Design at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis😢

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy Past reporting from Mirror Indy noted that the bridge project area intersects with two of the historic cemeteries later referred to collectively as Greenlawn. Community members have raised concerns about how human remains and history are handled. 📰🪦⚖️

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy Judith Thomas, the Deputy Mayor of Neighborhood Engagement for the City of Indianapolis, has been central to the city's efforts to address the historical, archaeological, and community concerns surrounding the former Greenlawn Cemetery.

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy It's amazing just how many stakeholders are involved in the process. It's wonderful to see those who are coming together to tell the stories of the dead. Local community groups, including the Friends of Greenlawn, are actively involved in preserving the history of this site.

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy That's the end of the documentary preview. It was beautiful just how well we're using this experience to tell the story of Indianapolis and preserve the experience of those who built this city.

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy Ryan Peterson, archaeologist and lead principal investigator from Stantec, Jerald Harkness, President and CEO of Studio Auteur and the filmmaker, and Leon Bates, historian and a member of the community advisory group are the panel members.

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy Leon stated, "Ethically… I approached it from the very beginning that it was… a moral problem we were dealing with that you can't just go in and just start ripping and tearing without understanding what is below the surface."

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy "We do not have names to go with the remains that we have unearthed," Leon. "With that said, there was a set of remains that was discovered, and the person is estimated to be possibly 100 and 405 years old."

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy "I've worked on projects where you're like, how am I going to fit the hour? Because this… the subject or the content isn't that strong. With this, it's the opposite. There's just so much strong content. I guess the challenge is just making it cohesive and flow and hopefully..

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy "..engage the audience," Jerald.

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy "I don't know that I fully recognize how profound those challenges would be with intrusive burials that came in later, stacked burials, um… the density is just so much greater, and that section of the cemetery than it is to the east," Ryan.

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy When asked how is this funded, Jerald said, "The city has agreed to they funded the proof of concept. We're hoping that they'll bring in additional funding so we can complete the project."

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy What has led to CAG success? Ryan, "Don't think that it's been all sunshine and roses. There have been days when we have been a very dysfunctional family, but with that said, I think everyone has been honest about their position and what they think, how they feel, and we've.."

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy "..had to work through that."

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy "Our motto is we always want to find the biggest audience possible to have the biggest impact. So I'm sure that we will be premiering it here, of course, naturally. Heartland will be involved with the premiere," Jerald responding to what's next for the documentary.

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy If you have additional questions, please check out . If you have particular research or reference questions, feel free to contact [e-mail]

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy That wraps my coverage of “Unearthing the Past at Henry Street Bridge” @ 7:00 p.m.
My biggest takeaway: Indy is not just building over land. It is building over memory, ancestry, and unfinished stories. How the city chooses to preserve and memorialize that history matters. 🏙️🕯️

@IndianaLandmark @indydocumenters @mirrorindy For more meeting coverage, check out . Have questions? Think we got something wrong? Send any questions on the meeting or this thread to @indydocumenters. Or email us at [e-mail]