Roadside Crosses and Memorial Complexes in Texas

Folklore, April, 2000 by Holly Everett

Although the appearance of the cross was a surprise, it was a felicitous one.

The roadside cross and Tara's grave site are only two of the sites involved in Tara's memorial complex, which has included an impromptu memorial of notes, letters, poems and photographs left at Tara's locker at Lake Travis High School; a memorial bench, erected on school grounds, to which a remembrance of some kind--a plaque, an angel figurine--is added each year on the anniversary of the accident; numerous scrapbooks; and a web site created by a family friend. Thus, Tara's family and friends have numerous outlets for expressions of grief and affection.

In addition, such memorials provide a place of mourning and contemplation for those who may have witnessed a fatal accident, but did not know the deceased (see also Monger 1997, 114) and are therefore unlikely to attend the funeral or visit the victim's grave site. A large number of Crockett High School students witnessed a fatal accident on 16 October 1996 when eight year-old Jacorey Williams was struck and killed by a car when crossing a nearby street. When I administered a questionnaire to several English literature classes at the school in the spring of 1997, many ,of the students wrote about the accident, and the small white cross that commemorates it (Fig. 7).

[Figure 7 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Erected in the median near the accident scene, the cross is often attended by toys, fresh flowers and plants. When I photographed the memorial in 1997, a small picture of Jacorey was taped to the cross's east face, above football cards and handwritten notes covered with plastic wrap, and a rosary, also affixed with tape. Students who witnessed the accident wrote about leaving flowers and toys at the cross, or simply thinking of him each time they passed the memorial.

Whether as a primary or secondary site of commemoration, it is important to recognise roadside memorials as integral to memorial complexes which serve grieving individuals' needs in a variety of ways that often change over time (Edgette 1997; Zimmerman 1997). Immediately following a fatal accident, friends and relatives, as well as witnesses, may focus their activities on the accident site. After a few years, when activity at the roadside appears to decrease or stop altogether, the greater part of memorialisation activity may have moved to the cemetery or the home. Thus, while documenting and analysing roadside memorialisation practices affords valuable insight into the intersection of belief and custom, it is vital that the researcher consider such memorials as part of a dynamic memory network influenced by such diverse factors as participants' relationship to the deceased, religious affiliation, city ordinances and cultural influences.

Notes

[1] The full title of the thesis is "Crossroads: Roadside Accident Memorials In and Around Austin, Texas."

[2] The cross to which I refer here, next to a busy, four-lane road, bears a plaque which reads:

IN MEMORY OF DAVID M. CROWLEY JANUARY 16, 1965--OCTOBER 16, 1995