Tolomato Cemetery: Saint Augustine, Florida: February 25

The Tolomato Cemetery is the oldest European-founded cemetery in the United States and was in use as a Cemetery from the 18th century until 1884. The Cemetery is the last resting place of roughly 1,000 Saint Augustinians.

For more information about the history of this site, please visit: http://www.tolomatocemetery.com/

-Artifacts-

Artifact #1

This is a photo of one of the tombstones found in the Tolomato Cemetery. This particular tombstone is in place to remember a member of the Confederate States of America. This is notated by the acronym CSA and the symbol on top of the tombstone.

Artifact #2

This is a photo from inside the mausoleum for Felix Varela. The photo is of a bust of Varela, who was a Cuban Catholic prelate and independence leader in Cuba.

-Exterior Photos-

Exterior Photo #1

This is a photo of the front gates that lead into the Tolomato Cemetery.

Exterior Photo #2

This is a photo of the outside of the mausoleum for Felix Varela.

-Images in Conversation with the Site-

Image in Conversation #1

I chose this photo as one of the images in conversation with the site because I think it represents the commoditization and tourist desecration of an actual holy and important historic site. And I believe that that is a common theme throughout Saint Augustine.

Source- https://www.google.com/search?q=tolomato+cemetery&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjh78_LmZLvAhVHWlkKHULFAUwQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=tolo&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQARgAMgQIIxAnMgUIABCxAzIFCAAQsQMyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAOgQIABBDOggIABCxAxCDAToHCCMQ6gIQJzoHCAAQsQMQQ1CKrgFYqc0BYMHWAWgBcAB4AIABgAGIAZ0VkgEEMjcuNJgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nsAEKwAEB&sclient=img&ei=vn4-YOGYFce05QLCiofgBA&bih=721&biw=1333&rlz=1CAOTWH_enUS900#imgrc=LDcXtDgkzPfOUM

Image in Conversation #2

This is a photo of Felix Varela. The reason that I believe that this photo is in conversation with the site is because he has an entire Mausoleum dedicated to him in the Tolomato Cemetery and I thought that it was important to include a picture of the man to which the mausoleum is dedicated and for.

Source- https://www.google.com/search?q=felix+varela&newwindow=1&rlz=1CAOTWH_enUS900&sxsrf=ALeKk004SEqgTGsKzVPeaxWmAzBGjYDqEA:1614708266286&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiTsoKFmZLvAhUOwlkKHYqfApwQ_AUoAnoECAoQBA&biw=1333&bih=721#imgrc=CSXgv4juIrxCyM

-The English 202 Connection-

One concept from my English 202 class that relates to the Cemetery is a concept found in the novel Kindred. That concept is the concept of history and both the literal and figurative need to travel back to it. For example in Kindred Dana said: "We flew to Maryland as soon as my arm was well enough." (Butler, 262) In the novel, Maryland is where Dana was held as a slave and her reason for returning was because she had a calling to return to where her ancestors lived. The Cemetery acts in unison with this concept because it is a way for people to both figuratively and in a sense literally travel back to their history and literally walk through it and experience it. This is something that not only Tolomato can do but also just Cemeteries can do in general.

-Creative Component-

This is a photo that I took really low to the ground of the coquina that lines the paths throughout the cemetery. The reason that I took this photo is that I always find coquina all over Saint Augustine and it is such an integral part of the city, and so to see it pave a path through a cemetery with such a rich history is something amazing. I then increased the contrast and made the texture of the coquina appear rougher to represent the rough path that Saint Augustine has been through.