Projects Review Manager of Archaeology for Resource Protection & Review
Krista Horrocks is a Projects Review Manager of Archaeology for Resource Protection & Review with the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), Ohio History Connection. She specializes in researching, locating, and documenting historic cemeteries where she helps Ohioans with their research of the over 14,630 cemeteries in the state. Krista specializes in the Works Progress Administration (WPA) veteran grave registry efforts that took place in Ohio from 1938-1940. She has an Associate of Science in Archaeology from Hocking College, Bachelors of Specialized Study from Ohio University, and Master of Arts in American Studies, Focus in Public History, from Youngstown State University. Krista lives in Hilliard with her husband and two children and is a native of the Village of Fredericktown, Knox County.
On December 29, 2022, the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Act was signed into law as part of H.R. 2617, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. The program is anticipated to be funded in FY2024. With Ohio’s own Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Alma Adams (NC-12) helping lead the charge, the program will appropriate $3 million a year for the identification, preservation, restoration, interpretation, research, and documentation of African American burial grounds. We will discuss the research the State Historic Preservation Office has done on African American cemeteries and discuss how Ohioans can work towards receiving grants from this program.
The North Graveyard was one Columbus’ five original cemeteries and was in use from 1813 to 1864. Issues with the condition and hygiene of the cemetery, as well as creeping urban development and the popularity of the Rural Cemetery Movement, efforts began as early at 1851 to move burials to Green Lawn Cemetery. Even though approximately 1,500 burials were recorded as being disinterred in the decades to follow the closing of the cemetery, it was well known burials still remains. In 2016, discussions began on a multiuse development within the North Market’s parking lot, one of the last areas of the original 11-acre North Graveyard that hasn’t been majorly disturbed by urban development. Archaeological excavations began in February 2023 by cultural resource management firm, Lawhon & Associates, Inc., to identify and disinter burials left under the North Market parking lot. Approved for 1.00 AIA HSW