Restoring Ledgers in the Smith-Callaway Lot
In 2018, Historic Oakland Foundation’s PRO Team restored the Smith-Callaway ledgers in Oakland’s historic African American Burial Grounds. Director of Preservation Ashley Shares and Preservation and Operations Specialist Sean Diaz describe re-leveling the marble ledgers in a relatively small space as a fun challenge.
Check out the slide show below and find out how they did it.
1. Using prybars, small PVC pipes, and long pieces of wood, Ashley and Sean were able to roll the ledgers out of the way.
2. Working on the two ledgers to the left first, you can see the multiple marble rails pieces that support the top ledgers. Failing to have adequate support beneath a ledger can cause them to bend and break, however, these ledgers were constructed not only with a substantial support system but also out of thicker than usual marble, reflecting the high craftsmanship of the markers and the means of the Smith-Callaway family.
3. With marble pieces placed to the side, Ashley and Sean began leveling and compacting the soil. Next, they built a concrete form a few inches larger than the scale of the marble rails. An important part of this step is to correctly square up and align the form with the surrounding monuments, the last thing you want is to find out everything is crooked after you pour your concrete.
4. After letting the concrete cure, Ashley and Sean carefully removed the form so that it can be reused and began backfilling with dirt and gravel. Having a single solid footer allows the weight of the entire monument to disperse evenly and prevents single rail elements from sinking into the ground.
5. While the rails could have been placed directly on the concrete footer, Ashley and Sean decided to embed them in a soft mortar. They did this for two reasons; first, it added further stability by essentially gluing the pieces together, and second, adding a mortar helped them manipulate the height of side-by-side stones and reach a specific height.
6. As you can imagine, moving the top ledger pieces was an all-hands-on-deck job. Sean and Ashley once again used the PVC rollers and long pieces of 2x4s to get the ledgers close. Then, using the pry bar and wedges, they safely and slowly placed the ledgers on the rails using mortar to reach the desired height and level. They aim to have some slope so that water does not pool on top of the ledgers and stain them. With a little landscaping love from our gardens team, the Smith-Callaway lot has really come together.
