James A. Harrison was a professor of Romantic Languages and Literature at the University of Virginia from 1895 to 1909. He wrote a periodical on the UVa Cemetery that paints a colorful picture of the surrounding landscape and atmosphere of the University. Harrison compares the cemetery to Westminster Abbey and other famous cathedrals of Europe. He relies on Colonel Charles C. Wertenbaker’s personal accounts of the founding of the cemetery to add to the content of his periodical. Harrison’s idealistic interpretation of the cemetery includes a vivid and heroic description of the statue in the Confederate cemetery, while ignoring the oppression and treatment of African Americans buried nearby. Harrison’s and Wertenbaker’s depiction of the UVa. Cemetery represents a time in the University's history when it embraced segregation and the former Confederacy. This representation shows the complicated dynamic surrounding UVa. and its role in the Charlottesville community; through, its treatment and view of African Americans, University faculty, and Confederate Soldiers buried in the University Cemetery.

Harrison’s purpose for writing this periodical was to preserve University cemetery’s history before the older generation of the University passed away. He stated “For them the writer has taken pains to collect a few data, clearing up the history of the cemetery before it is too late to gather them from authentic lips. The old people are passing away and the young ones care not for these things.”¹ Harrison contacted Col. Wertenbaker, son of the first head librarian of the University of Virginia, to provide a brief history of the UVa. Cemetery in his effort to preserve its memory. Wertenbaker wrote two letters that were included in Harrison’s periodical on the UVa. cemetery. He commented on several aspects of the Cemetery such as an epidemic of Typhus, which led to the first burial in the Cemetery for Henry William Tucker in 1828.² Wertenbaker believes the University officially began maintaining the cemetery when they built a wall around the area. Wertenbaker attempted to establish the exact year of the founding of the cemetery as well as preserve the memory of those buried there. His concern lies not only with preserving the memory of those buried there but with preserving the history of the University.

After establishing the foundation of the cemetery, Wertenbaker writes of the burial ground for University servants (enslaved laborers). He includes a brief description of how they were treated in death. Wertenbaker states that University servants “were buried on the north side of the cemetery, just outside of the wall...”³  He explains how African Americans in the Charlottesville community held secret ceremonies to bury their dead elsewhere. The graves in this section of the cemetery, oftentimes, were filled with dummies because medical students at the University stole their bodies to use as cadavers.⁴ These false burials exemplify the discrimination African Americans faced in death, which reflects on the challenges they faced in life. The University of Virginia knew of this burial ground as early as 1895, when Professor Harrison wrote this periodical. This information, however, went unnoticed for almost a hundred years. In 2012, the University began surveys to expand the cemetery: these surveys resulted in the discovery of 67 unmarked graves.⁵ This oversight shows how the University of Virginia forgets its past, and must take measures to correct the mistakes of its past administrations and faculty.

Harrison’s description of the University cemetery represents a view very common for the time. He acknowledges many of the accomplishments of the distinguished faculty buried there, and describes the Confederate cemetery as a glorious resting place for those that perished during a battle near Charlottesville. Harrison, however, neglects to comment further on the unmarked graves adjacent to the cemetery, which contain the bodies of enslaved laborers. He comments, instead, on the accomplishments of faculty buried in the Cemetery at the time. Harrison includes epitaphs featuring some of the most famous men buried there such as John Minor, an accomplished lawyer and law Professor at the University (1845-1895)⁶, and Albert Taylor Bledsoe, a professor of Mathematics at the University (1854-1861) and later the assistant Secretary of War for the Confederacy. Both men discriminated against African Americans. Minor was a slave owner, while Bledsoe argued for the preservation of slavery and advocated for the 'Lost Cause' narrative.⁷ The legacy of Minor and Bledsoe persists in this periodical; through Harrison's decision to include their names in a list of the most distinguished people buried here. Harrison elects to showcase only the parts of the University's history that distinguishes it, not providing an objective overview that includes or calls for the preservation of African American graves and contributions to the University.

Harrison glorifies the Confederate cemetery, which exemplifies how the community prioritizes  the burial of Confederate soldiers over the burials African Americans. The Confederate cemetery was maintained by the Ladies' Memorial Association, which spent approximately $1500 to beautify and preserve the graves of the Confederate soldiers.⁸ Harrison remarks on the "... beautiful Confederate cemetery where the striking figure of the Confederate soldier in bronze looms alert among the trees."⁹ In 1890 the Virginia University Magazine reported that the community wanted to and then did erect a monument including all the names of the Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery.¹⁰ The funds raised and positive community response to caring for the Confederate soldiers shows they did not prioritize or acknowledge the burial ground for the African Americans in their community.

Throughout Harrison's periodical, he praises the beauty of the UVa cemetery and the accomplishments of those buried there. This periodical exemplifies a part of University history that many overlook such as the burial ground for African Americans. Harrison and Wertenbaker highlight the priorities of the University at the time: preserving the memory of the UVa Cemetery, the distinguished persons buried there, and the natural beauty of the area. All of these elements only explain one part of the University's history, while neglecting the struggles and significance of African Americans in the community.