|
Vandalism is not a new problem at Laveau's tomb and others at
St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, which dates to the late 1700s and is
perhaps the most famous graveyard in a city whose above-ground
burial plots are among its defining characteristics.
But the defacement, which includes Xs written in marker on the
Laveau tomb as part of a local ritual for good luck that appears
to have been encouraged by unofficial tour guides, has
accelerated in recent months, said Sarah McDonald, spokeswoman
for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, which owns the cemetery.
"It became apparent that we needed to take some action to
protect the sanctity of the space, as well as the historic
nature of the cemetery," she said.
In one particularly egregious incident last year, someone broke
into the cemetery and painted the entire Laveau tomb pink,
triggering a tedious restoration, McDonald said.
Under the new plan, which will take effect in March, tour
operators will have to register with the archdiocese and pay
fees ranging from $40 for a single visit to $4,500 for an annual
pass.
The money will be spent on beefing up security at the site, with
the current arrangement of security cameras and some on-site
staff during open hours proving insufficient, McDonald said.
The archdiocese owns 11 other cemeteries in New Orleans, and it
may choose to extend the policy to some of those sites, though
the problems there have been far more limited, she said.
In addition to Laveau, a famed Creole practitioner of voodoo in
New Orleans who died in 1881, the cemetery is the resting place
of Homer Plessy, plaintiff in the notorious 1896 U.S. Supreme
Court case Plessy v. Ferguson, in which the court ruled against
him in upholding the segregationist "separate but equal"
doctrine.
(Reporting by Jonathan Kaminsky; Editing by Eric Beech)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
