Maple Hill Cemetery Essay

Introduction

A local cemetery in southeast Huntsville, Alabama known as Maple Hill Cemetery is the oldest and largest burial ground in the South. Maple Hill Cemetery was established in 1822 after two acres of land were bought from the Leroy Pope. Pope was a very well-known settler, American planter and lawyer in the 19th century. After his passing, he was one of the first to be buried in this cemetery. The graveyard now covers over 76 acres of land (about 58 football fields) and a location where many historical homes are still standing. Along with the homes, there are politicians and other famous individuals buried here in the space of 80,000 to 100,000 graves. The Huntsville Pilgrimage Association now holds an annual Maple Hill Cemetery Stroll

The purpose of this lab is to further the study of the demography of the human population that once lived in Alabama. Studying local cemeteries is just step one. Learning more about the demography of the population also assists in seeing where advances in health care begin. For this lab in particular, two time interims: before 1950 and 1950-present are key in this cemetery. Before the 1950s, many people were getting sick with illnesses we know well in the present day as polio, tuberculosis, etc. Health care was not advanced at all. After the 1950s, medical care began to grow and vaccinations and medications were discovered to cure most of these sicknesses and also prevent the future generations from catching them. For females ages 50-80, females born before 1950 would have a higher death rate. This is because during the older times in US history, the vaccines that we have today weren’t even half in number back then. Although the women could have received treatment for anything they had starting in 1950, they still had to live sick for most of their life. Also, women born after 1950 would have a higher survivorship because once they were born, they began to get vaccinations at a young age before they could catch