Thought you might want to know that I had the pleasure of talking this
evening with Danny White of Indianapolis, Indiana, the gentleman featured in
last Sunday's Indianapolis Star article about the legal obliteration of
Rhoads Cemetery in Wayne Township.
Danny told me that it has been a YEAR since Duke Realty removed the remains
of the 43 members of the Rhoads, Foltz, Shute and Rude families from their
graves. Several members of descendant families have been in contact with
Duke Realty, requesting that they be given the remains so they can be
reburied. Duke has REFUSED, and the remains of the 35 children and 8 adults
formerly buried at Rhoads Cemetery are still sitting in a laboratory at the
University of Indianapolis, where they are being studied for "historical
significance".
I've been picking up the Indianapolis Star every day since Sunday, waiting
to see what sort of reactions they publish in the letters to the editors.
So far, nothing except two brief comments in a "Let It Out" pet-peeve column
in today's "features" section:
(1) "I just read Death of a Cemetery. Shame on the legislature
that lets this happen and shame on Duke Realty for doing it."
(2) "It's hard to believe these people can be dug up and removed,
all for the price of the almighty buck. Just goes to show
you who's running this country. Not us -- it's the people
with money."
Danny White told me that he is running for State Representative in November.
He is presently the only Democrat on the Decatur Township Board. One of the
first things he wants to do as State Representative is to push through
legislation which will keep what happened at Rhoads Cemetery from happening
again.
Danny is interested in talking with people interested in cemetery
preservation, especially those from the Indianapolis area. He doesn't have
e-mail at home, but you can reach him there at 317-244-8813. He especially
wants to stay in touch with us (meaning INPCRP members) so that, when the
time comes, he can call on us to testify in support of the legislation he
hopes to propose.
Lois