Now this is why cemeteries are so interesting!
Nancy Jamerson Weiland was doing some research on 19th and 20th century Lynchburg, VA sex workers for a novel when she realized there was a whole presentation in the making. Especially when it appeared that two of the ladies she discovered, may have been distant relatives.
So without further ado, on September 21, she drew a crowd of almost 100 people to hear her speak about the madams and prostitutes buried at the Old City Cemetery.
“Some of Lynchburg’s sex workers were entombed beneath monuments. Others were buried in potter’s fields, in unmarked graves. Weiland visited [various] graves and told of other families, and of the houses and “red light” districts that were part of the Lynchburg landscape. Many of the women were widows or single mothers, she said. Some took up prostitution after having a pre-marital sexual experience that led their families to throw them out of their houses.”
Isn’t it funny where a little research can lead?
Beyond The Ghosts... 