Woodlawn Garden of Memories Cemetery

The Woodlawn Garden of Memories Cemetery (hereafter "Woodlawn Cemetery"), at the intersection of 8010 Katy Road and 1101 Antoine in Houston, Texas, was developed in 1931 during the period when cemeteries in the United States were becoming commercial ventures. Following the lead of Forest Lawn in California, marketing and pre-sales of burial lots made cemeteries a viable business. The creation of a non-profit corporation (the land is not taxed) chartered by the State of Texas made up of a board of directors (a group of business people, some of whom were involved in other economic pursuits) provided an attractive incentive for the developers. In addition, land outside of the city limits of the growing metropolis was less expensive.

In 1940, new sections featuring flat bronze markers with sculptural embellishment by Dionicio Rodriguez were added, and the owners changed the cemetery's name to from simply "Woodlawn Cemetery" to "Woodlawn Garden of Memories Cemetery" to reflect this new aesthetic. Rodriguez's sculpture in Woodlawn is his only known cemetery work in Texas. At least five of the sculptural pieces in the cemetery are the work of Rodriguez: the 25' tall faux wooden cross and its surrounding four benches; a flower planter basket; a 60' long fallen faux tree bench; and an "Annie Laurie Wishing Chair." Distinctive trademarks of his work, including rough and smooth faux wood (detailed with faux peeling bark, knotholes, insect borings, and pyramid-headed bolts) are present in these pieces and additional rustic works. A rose arbor lacking Rodriguez's fine attention to detail was probably constructed by one of his assistants.
Woodlawn Cemetery is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, in the areas of Art and Landscape Architecture, as a formally designed cemetery featuring artwork by noted sculptor Dionicio Rodriguez, under the MPS Sculpture of Dionicio Rodriguez in Texas. The cemetery is noteworthy for its regular layout and lack of above-grade grave markers, factors which also make the Rodriguez sculptures more prominent as visual landmarks. The cemetery meets Criteria Consideration A (religious properties) and Criteria Consideration D (cemeteries) because the property is significant primarily for its design features, notably its landscaping and prominent sculptures.

Antecedents of Woodlawn: Cemetery development in the United States
The evolution of cemeteries from dreary, crowded church graveyards to landscaped and monument-filled park-like surroundings had its beginning in Paris' Pere-Lachaise, with features designed by the architect, Hippolyte Etienne Godde in 1804. Its winding roads, paths, and "a rich backcloth of planting," filled with Neo-classical tombs and monuments, were influenced by English landscape traditions (Curl 1980, pp.156-160).

In the mid-1800s, rural cemeteries developed in the United States as a means of reconnecting city dwellers to nature. These burial places were soon filled with large monuments (commemorating the social position and/or wealth of the deceased), iron gates, and family plots delineated with wrought iron fences. Landscape architects Andrew Jackson Downing and Frederick Law Olmstead voiced criticism of rural cemeteries: Downing, of the use of iron gates and fences and Olmstead, of the "sense of gaiety" which "replaced silence, seclusion and peace" (Sloan 1991, pp. 88, 90, 91).

By the 1850s, Adolph Strauch had produced landscaped lawn-park plans for cemeteries including Cincinnati's Spring Grove, Buffalo's Forest Lawn, and Chicago's Oak Woods, all having three-dimensional monuments and sculptures and close to the burial ground markers (not over 6" high). Funds for perpetual care were solicited from lot holders, and an endowment fund was provided for maintenance costs. In comparison with rural cemeteries, Strauch's lawn-park designs reduced clutter (facilitating the use of mechanical lawnmowers), and "roadways and pathways were limited, plantings were controlled." Olmstead recognized Strauch's talent, and nominated his work at Spring Grove Cemetery for the "landscape competition at the Paris Exposition in 1875."

In 1913, when Eaton, an unemployed engineer, took over the management of the failed Forest Lawn cemetery, he initiated the replacement of tombstones with flat bronze burial markers and perpetuated the lawn-park cemeteries' use of landscaping with sculptural objects. Capitalizing on the renewed belief in eternal life, he promoted artwork that emphasized the celebration of life over death and the joyous aspect of Christianity. He began "purchasing original works of art, as well as copies" and encouraged families to purchase sculptural pieces for their lots from Forest Lawn's collection, many of them having religious themes. Sections of the cemetery (called gardens) had particular themes where one or more pieces of sculpture were surrounded by a green lawn with bronze plaques marking individual graves. Eaton initiated innovation in funerals by providing and charging for the entire burial process: preparing the body, selling the flowers, casket, vault, burial plot, sculpture and bronze marker (Ibid, p.164, 170, 174, 176). Maintenance, or perpetual care, was included in the cost of the burial plot.

By 1935, imitations of the memorial park theme had begun to appear throughout the United States, and there were over 600 memorial parks. Forest Lawn's influence could be attributed to several factors. Eaton established a corporate structure, whereby the cemetery retained a nonprofit status, which was legal in the United States. He had two separate companies: "... the lot holders mutual non-profit association, was responsible for the memorial park's daily operation," and "... the Forrest Lawn company, a private stock company, which owned the land..." With a rather complicated plan, he "insured the nonprofit status of the cemetery and still established relatively inexpensive ways of profiting from its sales" (Ibid, 162). In 2003, most cemeteries, except a few small, privately owned ones, operated as non-profit, tax-exempt corporations (Bailey to Light).

Successful development of memorial cemeteries could be compared to that of a residential subdivision, where the owners of the land would pre-sell lots for future housing, which helped finance the project. Eaton's pre-need sales of burial lots were popular. In addition, the concept of low maintenance (with assistance from the mechanical lawnmower), the elimination of clutter, and no distinction between graves of rich and poor (with no pretentious tombstones towering over humble burial plots) appealed to both clients and cemetery owners (Ibid, pp. 162, 180-181).

Development of Woodlawn

Similar to other memorial parks, the Woodlawn Garden of Memories was planned with themed areas, each individually named, which were divided by paved roads (see site map). The land where the cemetery was developed was originally 108.83 acres out of the E.B. Cogswell Survey, A-786, and was surrounded by farmland. According to Lynda Seaman, in the early days of the cemetery, Katy Freeway was a dirt road, and farmers had to drive their cattle away from funeral services (Seaman to Light). In 1931, the Woodlawn Cemetery Corporation, composed of J.W. Metzler, J.W. Metzler, Jr., Ben Dancer, and Mrs. Phylura E. Skalinder, applied for and was granted a charter as a non-profit cemetery (the land was not taxed) by the State of Texas.

The Houston City Directory of 1931-1932 lists J.W. Metzler and J.W. Metzler, Jr. as living at 1203 Wichita Avenue, in the Southmore subdivision, north of Hermann Park and Rice University. Their house has been demolished, but large residences remaining in Southmore in 2003 evidence that the area was a prosperous upper-class neighborhood. Metzler, Sr. was president of the Houston Fireworks Company and the Houston Wholesale Confectionary Company (dealers of bakers' and confectioners' supplies, tools, and machinery) at 306-308 Louisiana. Metzler, Jr. worked with his father and Ed Metzler, who was secretary-treasurer of the company.

Ben Dancer, listed as president of Woodlawn in 1930-1931, and Mrs. Skalinder, the treasurer, both lived in the non-extant William Penn Hotel at 1421 Texas Avenue. The corporate office for the cemetery was in J.S. Cullinan's Petroleum Building, at 1314 Texas Avenue, a block away from the hotel. There was a small field office at the cemetery (Seaman to Light).

In 1937, J.W. Metzler, Jr. sold the 108.83 acres to Woodlawn Association: Dancer and Mrs. Skalinder (who had married Dancer) for $27,500. A white granite founders' monument (no date) cited in Section E lists Eric A. Skalinder, Phylura Skalinder, and Ben F. Dancer. In 1956, Ray Haynie acquired one share of Woodlawn stock from Ben Dancer, and in 1960, he received 32 additional shares from Dancer. In 1969, he received the balance of his shares from the Skalinder estate. Haynie died in 1970. The current president and major stockholder (2003) is his son, Bill Haynie. Board members are President, Bill Haynie; Vice-President, Bob Haynie; Secretary, Linda G. Seaman; and Treasurer, E.D. Haynie.

The name of the cemetery was changed to Woodlawn Garden of Memories in 1940, corresponding to the period when Rodriguez was working in the flat marker sections 50, 51, 52, 53, 56, and 3. Rodriguez's sculpture for the Woodlawn was probably completed during the time he was finishing work for Clovis Hinds' Memorial Park in Memphis. Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham; Cedar Hill and Ft. Lincoln in Washington, D.C.; and West Lawn and Cedar Park, both in suburbs of Chicago were probably completed previously. With the exception of West Lawn (which has only above-ground monuments), all of these cemeteries evidence the influence of Hubert Eaton's Forest Lawn in Los Angeles, where flat bronze grave markers replaced upright tombstones and sculptural works decorated family plots. Similar to Woodlawn, most of these cemeteries have a combination of above-ground monuments and flat markers.

It is noteworthy that the sculptural decoration of Woodlawn Garden of Memories and the six additional cemeteries, (all with inexpensively produced cement sculpture by Rodriguez), was completed during (and following) the lean years of the "Great Depression." As Rodriguez wrote to Clovis Hinds, "It (the work) doesn't take much material or time, and gives wonderful results" (Rodriguez to Hinds 1935). The cement, rebar, and his labor and that of his assistants were cheap. When he worked for Justin Matthews in Arkansas, he was paid $75.00 a week (with housing) which included pay for one helper, although his salary for Hinds was $1.50 an hour and $2.50 a day for the assistant. Later, he worked on a contract basis with Hinds (Rodriguez to Hinds 1933-1942).

Recommendations and "word of mouth" from one cemetery owner to another helped Rodriguez obtain jobs in at least one known instance. Correspondence reveals that Clovis Hinds contacted the owner of Cedar Park Cemetery in Washington, D.C., recommending Rodriguez. In addition, the 1938 National Convention of Cemetery Owners was held in Memphis, affording delegates an opportunity to see Rodriguez's work at Hinds' Memorial Park. Although it is not known how Rodriguez received the commission for the work at Woodlawn, it is possible that one of the owners of Woodlawn attended that conference or had seen Rodriguez's work in San Antonio, Beaumont, or Port Arthur.

Conclusion

Woodlawn Garden of Memories is typical of cemeteries that possess sections of both traditional upright monuments and flat markers, and that evidence the plan that imitates the "popular image of the suburban landscape" initiated by Eaton, whereby sculptural decoration and/or artwork is highlighted in individual "gardens" (Sloane 1991, p.181).
The rustic concrete sculpture of Dionicio Rodriguez in Woodlawn is notable, not only for its artistic merit but also that it is (in 2003) the only known extant cemetery work by the artisan in Texas. The upright cross is unique, in that it was not replicated in his work throughout the United States and the "fallen tree" bench, one of his oft-repeated designs, is one of the longest that he sculpted. The Annie Laurie chair evidences the influence of cemetery owners, Clovis Hinds and William Earl Harrison, for whom he had previously built the same sculpture. Woodlawn Garden of Memories Cemetery and its work by Dionicio Rodriguez are significant in American history and possess integrity of design and workmanship. The cemetery embodies distinctive characteristics of cemeteries built in the 1930s, and Rodriguez's sculptures represent the work of a master and both meet the application for landscape architecture and art.