TO: All Things Considered
SUBJECT: ATC 08.18.2006 - Movies Under the Stars, Surrounded by Tombs
I happened to be listening to the above referenced piece last Friday and there was one thing which stuck out like a vandalized headstone in the cemetery.
Ina Jaffe interviews John Wyatt who's been running the Cinespia movie screenings at Hollywood Forever for five years. If in this time he had bothered to take an interest in learning a bit of the history of the cemetery the first thing out of his mouth would not have been, "This is Hattie McDaniel's Grave."
I don't feel I'm being knit picky and perhaps neither shall you after I point out the following.
The marker at Hollywood Forever is a cenotaph, a monument erected in honour of a person whose remains lie elsewhere. The reason for this is that even though it was the expressed wish of Ms. McDaniel that she be buried at the Hollywood Memorial Park (now Hollywood Forever) the previous owner Jules Roth had a policy of not allowing burials of African-Americans in the cemetery. Ms. McDaniel was buried with all the honors deserving at the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery in 1952 where she is to this day.
In 1999 after the his purchase of the Hollywood Cemetery, Tyler Cassity wanted to set things right and offered to have Ms. McDaniel's remains moved to the renamed Hollywood Forever cemetery. The remains were not moved from Angelus Rosedale, but a cenotaph was erected in her honour.
While this may seems a trivial matter, it is quite an ignorant and irritating mistake for a cemeteryan or an enthusiast of Los Angeles history to hear - both because it is blatantly wrong and because it erases an important part of history which shouldn't be forgotten.
A correction would be much appreciated - or better yet Ms. Jaffe should do a piece on the historical importance of Angelus Rosedale.
SUBJECT: ATC 08.18.2006 - Movies Under the Stars, Surrounded by Tombs
I happened to be listening to the above referenced piece last Friday and there was one thing which stuck out like a vandalized headstone in the cemetery.
Ina Jaffe interviews John Wyatt who's been running the Cinespia movie screenings at Hollywood Forever for five years. If in this time he had bothered to take an interest in learning a bit of the history of the cemetery the first thing out of his mouth would not have been, "This is Hattie McDaniel's Grave."
I don't feel I'm being knit picky and perhaps neither shall you after I point out the following.
The marker at Hollywood Forever is a cenotaph, a monument erected in honour of a person whose remains lie elsewhere. The reason for this is that even though it was the expressed wish of Ms. McDaniel that she be buried at the Hollywood Memorial Park (now Hollywood Forever) the previous owner Jules Roth had a policy of not allowing burials of African-Americans in the cemetery. Ms. McDaniel was buried with all the honors deserving at the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery in 1952 where she is to this day.
In 1999 after the his purchase of the Hollywood Cemetery, Tyler Cassity wanted to set things right and offered to have Ms. McDaniel's remains moved to the renamed Hollywood Forever cemetery. The remains were not moved from Angelus Rosedale, but a cenotaph was erected in her honour.
While this may seems a trivial matter, it is quite an ignorant and irritating mistake for a cemeteryan or an enthusiast of Los Angeles history to hear - both because it is blatantly wrong and because it erases an important part of history which shouldn't be forgotten.
A correction would be much appreciated - or better yet Ms. Jaffe should do a piece on the historical importance of Angelus Rosedale.
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