A scholar at a Pennsylvania school has made it her mission to make sure that her hometown’s battle veterans is not going to be forgotten – even when it’s been centuries since their deaths.
Danielle Russell, who’s initially from Gilroy, California, is a senior at Gettysburg School in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Russell advised Fox Information Digital in a Zoom interview that she first started this challenge when she was nonetheless in highschool. (See the video on the prime of this text.)
“I really wanted to get involved. We had a volunteer requirement at my high school. But for me, it really wasn’t about meeting that requirement,” she stated.
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“I wanted to do something to make a positive impact on my community.”
A historical past buff with a particular curiosity within the Civil Battle, Russell hoped to do one thing that might mix her want to volunteer along with her pursuits – however she quickly bumped into points.
Danielle Russell started volunteering at Gavilan Hills Memorial Park, her hometown cemetery in Gilroy, California, whereas nonetheless in highschool. She shortly discovered that many veterans’ graves had been omitted from official information. (Danielle Russell)
“I originally wanted to volunteer at the local historical society. I went in and I offered them my volunteer services,” she stated.
“But being that I was a high school student, given that I was only 16 years old, they said that I was too young, and I probably wouldn’t be reliable.”
Undeterred, she then went to her native Veterans of International Wars (VFW) corridor to see in the event that they had been fascinated with her companies. She stated they agreed to offer her a shot and assigned her a “little project” a few native veteran to see how she fared.
Gavilan Hills Memorial Park is a cemetery in Gilroy, California, that was established within the years following the Civil Battle.
After efficiently finishing that challenge, Russell shifted her focus to any connections her hometown of Gilroy needed to the Civil Battle.
Her supervisor on the VFW advised her that there have been unique maps from the nineteenth century that had been product of the Gavilan Hills Memorial Park, a cemetery in Gilroy that was established within the years following the Civil Battle.
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So Russell “began walking the cemetery” throughout her free time between college and sports activities to see if she might spot anybody who might need served within the army in the course of the Civil Battle.
“Sometimes I could drag my friends along,” she stated — noting that whereas her pals weren’t as fascinated with historical past as she was, “they were more than happy to go along and help me with the project.”
Russell had the help of household, pals and school professors as she labored on a challenge to determine the graves of veterans. On the left, Russell holds an image of her late mentor, Dr. Peter Carmichael. (Danielle Russell)
Russell started to replace these unique maps, correcting misspellings and omissions.
Initially, there have been believed to be 20 Civil Battle veterans out of about 300 whole buried on the cemetery, she stated.
That quantity shortly grew.
“Any time I would come upon a grave where it looked like that individual could have been in the military, at some point I would write down their name, birth and death information, anything I thought might be useful, really,” she stated.
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From there, she researched the particular person on web sites similar to Ancestry or Discover A Grave to see if she might find any proof of army service.
“I got the number up from around 300 veterans to well over 500,” she stated.
The variety of Civil Battle veterans – together with individuals who served on each side of the battle – buried on the Gavilan Hills Memorial Park now stands at 64.
With a brand new and up to date record of those that had served, Russell then set to work honoring these women and men for his or her service.
Russell poses with the grave of Marshall Emory Hunter, one of many Civil Battle veterans buried in Gilroy, California. Hunter is among the many 64 veterans added to Russell’s record. (Danielle Russell)
“These men were either buried using family headstones that didn’t identify them as veterans, or they didn’t have headstones at all,” she stated.
“So, I raised roughly $11,000, and using that money, we purchased 11 headstones and 70 service medallions.”
“I am the last person to remember their names, to remember their lives.”
Russell stated she positioned them on the graves of veterans starting from the Mexican-American Battle by way of World Battle I. She stated she didn’t add medals or headstones to the graves of veterans of newer wars, as many nonetheless had household within the space and he or she didn’t need to change graves with out household permission.
However “a lot of these men and women, they don’t have family left [in the area],” Russell added. “So for me, I am the last person to remember their names, to remember their lives.”
Recalling and honoring the service of those veterans by way of up to date headstones and medallions “is very important to me,” she stated.
“It is giving them the honor and the recognition that they deserve, and it’s ensuring that their lives will live on over time.”
Making a searchable database
After highschool, Russell went off to the opposite facet of the nation to review at Gettysburg School — and her hometown challenge went on a little bit of a hiatus, till just lately.
With the assistance of two classmates and below the supervision of a professor, Russell started increasing her record of hometown veterans right into a database that incorporates details about their lives and repair.
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“We started researching these men and women, filling out those spreadsheets. We’re almost done with the spreadsheets,” she stated.
As soon as these are completed, they are going to be added to a bigger database of veterans.
“Each of the veterans [is] going to get their own individual profile,” she stated. “There will be different tabs and different tags so that the database is fully searchable.”
One of many makes use of of Russell’s database is to make sure the veterans are correctly honored by applications similar to Wreaths Throughout America. (Danielle Russell)
When that’s full, Russsell plans on mapping the areas the place these veterans are buried to make sure they’ll proceed to be honored.
“That way there can be a little bit more accuracy and recognition for ceremonies such as Wreaths Across America, Veterans Day and Memorial Day,” she stated.
The Civil Battle Institute at Gettysburg School heaped reward on Russell’s work, calling it a “true labor of love.”
Russell is a scholar fellow on the Civil Battle Institute.
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“Danielle’s work exemplifies the core mission of the Institute,” the Civil Battle Institute advised Fox Information Digital in a press release, “which, through both its annual summer conference and Fortenbaugh Lecture, as well as the academic minors it facilitates, brings scholarly academic research into conversation with the public and helps foster informed civic dialogue through a greater awareness and appreciation of the past.”
“We could not be prouder of Danielle for her enormous accomplishments with this project.”
“We could not be prouder of Danielle for her enormous accomplishments with this project,” the assertion continued.
Engaged on the challenge for the final six years has been an “incredible honor,” Russell stated, and one she carries along with her.
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“Those individual stories that are there, they really do stick with you – or at least they stuck with me,” she stated. She added that she’s even “kind of adopted” a number of the individuals she’s researched.
“I think that I have that duty and that responsibility to remember them, to honor their legacies, because there was no one else left to do that,” Russell stated.
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“So until this project is completed and their stories are visible to members of the public, I really don’t think that I will have fully discharged that responsibility to honor them — and I am so incredibly excited to share some of these stories.”
