The ‘Memorial to the Lost’ is a ‘visceral’ representation of gun violence located in front of Haddonfield Friend Cemetery.
Since its installation the first week of June, the “Memorial to the Lost,” located in front of Haddonfield Friends Cemetery on Haddon Avenue, stops walkers in their tracks, has drivers slowing down and has Doug Campbell replenishing the memorial’s information flyer box every couple of days. Campbell, a member of the Peace and Social Concerns Committee, said the Haddonfield Monthly Meeting, the quaker community hosting the memorial, has been inundated with questions about the piece.
The “Memorial to the Lost” is comprised of 90 t-shirts, each representing a South Jersey victim of gun violence killed in 2015 or 2016. Each shirt displays the name, age and date of death. The travelling memorial was created by Heeding God’s Call, a Philadelphia, faith-based organization advocating for an end to gun violence.
Jon “Jake” McGlaughlin, presiding clerk at the Haddonfield Monthly Meeting, said the Quaker community has been involved in criminal justice issues for a long time. He said Quakers tend to be more passive in the way they practice religion, but he said as of recent, they have wanted to have a greater presence in Haddonfield because they want people to be aware of what they have to say.
He said the memorial is not targeted against the Second Amendment, but instead views gun violence as a public health issue. McGlaughlin said gun violence can be an abstract, removed idea for some, but the row of 90 shirts has a more visceral effect.
Campbell said Haddonfield is in a demographic bubble. His hope in bringing the memorial to town was to get people thinking beyond their bubble because gun violence takes place nearby.
“People just feel what’s happening next door to us,” Campbell.
Bryan Miller, executive director of Heeding God’s Call and a former Haddonfield resident, said an array of faith communities have hosted the memorial, and they’ve had no shortage of people reaching out after seeing the piece. The first memorial was created in 2013.
“Everywhere it’s gone they’ve created a sensation,” Miller said.
Miller said they update the names on the piece periodically to reflect the most recent victims of gun violence.
Linda Lotz, a member of Haddonfield’s meeting and one of the organizers who brought the piece to town, said on the first day the piece went up one of the reenactors participating in the Battle of Haddonfield found a familiar name on the piece. She said it was a solemn moment for the passerby.
“The reason we wanted to hold the memorial was to recognize that when something like this happens, it really tears a fabric within the community,” Lotz said.
McGlaughlin said the goal is to start conversations about creating safe places to live and play. With June being “Gun Violence Awareness” month, the meeting thought it was an appropriate time to get these conservations started with the memorial in town.
Campbell said thus far the support and thirst for knowledge from the community has been constant.
“We get so many questions; we keep filling the box [outside the memorial] with the information,” Campbell said. “We have the support of commissioners and the police department.”
The memorial will leave Haddonfield at the end of June. To learn more about hosting the memorial or to get information about Heeding God’s Call, visit https://heedinggodscall.org/
