Ward Manor, an undergraduate dorm at Bard College located in Annandale-On-Hudson, New York is the setting for this multimodal and interdisciplinary ethnographic research which addresses underlying biases present in the creation of historical narratives developed by community memory. Drawing on the work of Victor Turner, Michel Trouillot, Doris Francis, and others, this project explores the interdisciplinary opportunities suggested by such scholarship. The property, which includes a cemetery, served as a retirement community for the Community Service Society of New York from 1926 until 1959. This presentation explores a digital model that captures data from this previously overlooked gravesite. Using digital outreach, information about the individuals who lived on the property can be accessed through the Bard Experimental Humanities website. This has facilitated relatives of those buried within the cemetery to reconnect with their heritage; one family held a gathering to commemorate their relative upon discovery.
This methodology can be reproduced at other research sites to create interactive collections for community use. It includes an exploration of the entanglement of memory and how rumors within research can develop into new forms of commemoration from local to global communities. At Ward Manor, a historical narrative was created by using technology to digitalize the graveyard, providing opportunity for family members to locate 'lost' relatives, expanding the scope of ethnography with the inclusion of interactive spaces.
Cemetery research provides unique memory narratives. At Ward Manor, some graves were simply are marked "Reserved." The absence of a name creates questions of what is missing from the historical narrative and why. This negative information presents a narrative of history that is written primarily for entry into an archive, however, the creation of new research paths utilizing unfinished records and rumors can make sense of memory and archival materials.
The immediacy of this research is manifest in the ongoing collection of oral histories of former residents who remember the property through childhood memories, or retold stories. Those who lived as "retirees" at Manor may be long gone, but the collected oral histories provide a view of the retirement home through a child's gaze.
