...an evening tour of Evergreen Cemetery...

a bunch of books on cemeteries

Since June, I have been taking a course, Marketing the Past, in the Public History graduate program.  In the course, our final projects included students writing business proposals for events, pursuing the steps in having a historical highway marker approved, and developing a connection between our historic cemeteries. Well, that last project was mine. 

I developed a plan for a “remembrance trail” because we have some amazing cemeteries that visitors, and even our residents, are not visiting because they do not know about them. And, since we have wine trails, beer trails, and other historic trails, we should have a cemetery trail. 

cemetery brochures

It’s been a fun and exhausting five weeks with a great deal of reading, writing, and researching.

All of my Public History courses have encouraged me to go out to see historic sites. Over the last week that’s been hard to do because of the heat and humidity. Yet, last week, the National Park Service hosted a tour of Evergreen Cemetery, one of the oldest privately-owned Black cemeteries in the East End of Richmond, VA. As soon as I read about the tour, I scheduled a MeetUp event for the Richmond City Cemetarians.

Around here, Evergreen is known both for the influential Richmonders who are buried there including Maggie Walker, and for the poor conditions of the cemetery. As far as I can tell, somewhere in the mid-twentieth century, people stopped tending to the cemetery as a whole. The cemetery became overgrown and it became difficult for families to tend to and visit their loved ones buried there. Hopefully the recent efforts to restore Evergreen to its original grandeur will take and we will one day see the place in the way that the designers intended it to look. 

I have toured the place with the local volunteer coordinator after helping to clean up a cemetery next to this one but that was mostly pointing out the dilapidated conditions.  I wanted to learn more about its history while being in the cemetery. Clearly from the picture, I love a good book about cemeteries; however, there is just something about standing in the location while learning about it that touches me.

Although the NPS tour was scheduled for 7pm, it was going to be in the mid-90s… in a place where one would have to wear jeans and boots. I did and it was hot… but it did not feel as awful as I thought it would. The historic area of the cemetery provided a good amount of shade; and, well, I was really engaged with what our guides had to say. Still, because of the conditions, both the overgrowth and the heat, the tour was just an hour and only covered three locations including the plots of Price, Jones, and Walker. 

Just a brief overview of the tour since I am hoping this becomes a tour that is often more frequently. 

Mr. Alfred Douglas Price Sr. was a renowned undertaker in the Black community. He started in the business in 1886, which was just before Evergreen opened in 1891. Because of the conditions of Evergreen, Mr. Price’s family had him moved to Riverview Cemetery in 1982.

Dr. Sarah Jones

The second stop was that of the Jones family plot. Drs. Sarah Jones and Miles Jones grew up during Reconstruction. The guides explained that these two were a power couple but with Sarah taking the lead. They married in 1888 and she attended Howard University where she would become the first black female in the state to practice medicine. She then put her husband through medical school. 

NPS guides in the Walker plot

The third and last stop on the tour was that of Maggie Walker and the Walker family and friends. Mrs. Walker was the first female bank president of any race to charter a bank in the United States.

While Dr. Sarah Jones lies with a humble marker, Mrs. Walker has one of the grandest in the cemetery.

Although volunteers have been slowly restoring the cemetery, so few of the 50 acres are easily accessible to visitors. At the end of the tour, there was time to meander through the cemetery and reflect on the place. 

I hope the NPS continues to give tours here. It is such a beautiful place even on a hot summer evening and even in its present condition. 

Richmond Remembrance Trail

Here is a visual map that shows the approximate locations of some of the most historic cemeteries in  Richmond, VA.

NPS tour of Evergreen Cemetery (July 15, 2017)

Click picture for link

Updated: for a follow-up post, see ...an evening tour of Evergreen Cemetery...

Updated- Blandford Cemetery, Petersburg (July 22, 2017)

 

Click picture for link

Join the River City Cemetarians- Bruton Churchyard & Jones Cemetery, Williamsburg (September 30, 2017)

Click picture for link

recitations of ambiance in Savannah

Nearly a month ago, I started writing about my Savannah vacation but I have not had much time to sit down and reflect because almost immediately I headed off to Chicago for a work conference (where I took an excursion to Graceland Cemetery), and then to our Colonial Williamsburg family (my fella and me!) vacation. While I’m working on research for a marketing course in Public History, I thought I would take a moment to reflect upon my Savannah trip.

As I wrote in the previous post, I needed a good gothy vacation. This is my first real summer break in years, and while I’m continuing to work on academic publications and projects, it has been so nice to get away from the day- to-day grind.

Our tour guide explained the symbolism of the cemetery gate including the "bats" design to represent hell!

I began my trip like any good English professor/ tourist traveling to Savannah. I watched and re-read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. As soon as I arrived, I attended The Beyond Good and Evil Tour at 10pm, which I discussed previously. Even after driving seven hours south from Richmond, I knew that I would be wired.

The next morning, I skipped breakfast at the Amethyst Garden Inn because they only served breakfast from 9-10am and who has time to sit around waiting for breakfast!?! It was a lovely B&B but I would not return, especially since mid-trip I had to change inns, which worked out better for me in the end. That will probably be noted in the next post.

My first morning excursion was to Bonaventure Cemetery for a tour. The place is breathtaking. There are multi-meanings to that. It was both gorgeous and OHMYWORD the humidity had me huffing and puffing. Mind you, it was fifteen degrees hotter in Virginia but even in 80°F I was dripping in sweat (I know, gross!) within minutes of stepping outdoors. The gnats are also brutal! If you can tolerate all of that, you’ll find a gorgeous cemetery with some pretty strict rules about stepping in family plots (as in, it’s a No-No and I actually saw a few visitors get fussed out!) My pictures ended up being longshots because I had to stand somewhat far away but it isn’t the individual markers that give Bonaventure its beauty; it’s the overwhelming ambiance of the Spanish moss hanging from the trees that makes you feel like you’re getting a big ol’ fat sweaty hug from your Southern great aunt while simultaneously feeling a bit uncanny like, “is this really my big ol’ fat sweaty great aunt?”

Just a quick aside, Spanish moss is basically an air plant, which absorbs water and nutrients through its leaves from the air. It rarely kills the tree that it grows upon but because it can become so dense it sometimes offers too much shade to the tree's leaves, which can lower the tree’s growth rate.

At Bonaventure, I also found a buddy! During the Bonaventure tour, a woman named Janet and I realized that we had also been on the The Beyond Good and Evil Tour together. We discovered that we both have a thing for vampires; we’re both language-educators; we’re both taphophiles; and, we were both women traveling solo, which I think is awesome. I am often asked if I get lonely—nope; if I get scared—not really; and, if I feel uncomfortable dining alone—not one bit.

After the tour, I stuck around Bonaventure a bit longer to look around. I was so grateful to my former-self for bringing some crackers and a large Honey Crisp apple to hold me over. Even though Savannah is known for being a city with amazing food, and in my experience that is true, I had a hard time pulling myself away from activities.

That afternoon, I headed to the Jepson Center for the Arts to see the infamous Bird Girl statue that was featured on the front cover of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Unfortunately, because of the book’s popularity, the statue had to be removed from Bonaventure Cemetery to help with crowd control.

Awkwardly placed in a narrow hallway surrounded by windows

The statue was designed by the Chicago sculptor Sylvia Shaw Judson in 1936. Based on her design, the statue was intended to hold food and water for birds, not to symbolize the balance between good and evil.

Picture taken in bathroom. My dress has a thistle print!

That evening, I had reservations at the Historic Olde Pink House. As a solo traveler, I think some of the staff pitied me until they realized I was there by choice. Then they became envious. They were great conversationalists. The restaurant is gorgeous and all of the staff seem willing to chat about the legends of the location being haunted. I did not see any ghosts but I'm pretty sure the tablecloth was haunted. 

There was a hostess who walked throughout the restaurant and every now and then would belt out a song. It was a great evening and the food was amazing. The waiter even brought me my own candlestick to add to the ambiance. 

the haunting first days of summer in Savannah

With summer vacation ahead of me, I determined that I needed a good gothy vacation. I wanted the ambiance of a haunted house (or two) and some strolls through some old cemeteries. Last year, there was a road trip to the Crescent Hotel; the year before, I had two trips to New Orleans. Three cemeteries in three days while staying in two haunted hotels in Savannah, Georgia was just what I needed.

Savannah is about seven hours south of where I live so I determined that I could drive there in a day. After all, I used to live outside of Boston, Massachusetts which was nine hours. Of course, I was almost twenty years younger, but still, a drive to Savannah seemed reasonable.

I headed out on Monday and arrived at the Amethyst Garden Inn, a Victorian Queen Anne Bed & Breakfast located in the Historic district right around check-in time. I pretty much picked it because it popped up on the Orbitz page; it once was a Victorian home; and, it was painted purple. The fact that it was haunted was something that I discovered later; and, it only added to the ambiance of the place.

Almost immediately, I dropped off my bags and headed to see Savannah. I was somewhat close to the cathedral, which I’ll write about later. I went there and, because I was so close, I went to Colonial Park Cemetery, which is right in the middle of the historic district. In fact, for many of my excursions, my GPS routed me through Colonial Park Cemetery. My gothy heart grew each time I strolled through that enchanted place.

That night, at 10pm, because I had only been up since 4:30am and driven 7 hours so a late-night tour seemed so reasonable *yawn* at the time that I booked it, I headed to the The Beyond Good and Evil Tour. My tour guide, Zack, was awesome. He was both theatrical and informative as he shared details about Colonial Park Cemetery and various haunted spots in Savannah. The tour went on until beyond midnight. 

Of course, most of y’all know that I’m there for the atmosphere so seeing a ghost is not necessary, which helps since I’m completely a skeptic. That night, I discovered that I was the only guest on the second floor of the inn.  But, with such a whirlwind of a start, I slept right on through and did not have a moment to consider being frightened. If one of the ghosts of the Rose Room, the room where I stayed, dropped in, they did not wake me. The next day, my plans were to wake early so that I could catch a Bonaventure Cemetery tour.

I will write about my adventures in Colonial Park Cemetery, Bonaventure Cemetery, and (my favorite) Laurel Grove Cemetery in the next few days. Overall, it was a great little excursion. I arrived home just in time to begin my first day of summer classes. I’m taking a course called Marketing the Past. Sounds cool, right? So far it is, and I spent most of yesterday working on my project for the class... a project that focuses on local cemeteries. More details on that soon.

Savannah is going to haunt me for a while; and, I do have a great deal to share. 

 

With just a few days in, how are you spending your first days of summer?  Hope you're keeping it spooky!

Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Richmond, VA

We think that

a powerful and vigorous movement

is impossible without differences

"true conformity" is possible

only in the cemetery.

~Joseph Stalin

 

Mount Calvary Cemetery in Richmond, VA is right down the river from Hollywood Cemetery and Riverside. In fact, during our MeetUp last Saturday, we accidentally ended up in Riverside at one point since there is no clear dividing line between the two. Hollywood is a bit up a hill and closed off by a fence, just in case the dead try to mingle. There are approximately 30,000 buried on about 60 acres of Mt. Calvary with 30 more acres set aside for future development. This is a good thing since active cemeteries are often better maintained.  

Photo taken by Chris Beasley; all other possibly unfocused photos are taken by me :p

Founded as a non-profit cemetery in 1880 by the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, today it welcomes members of all faiths and ethnic origins.  While it is open to all, the large crucifix at the center of the cemetery reminds visitors this was intended as a Catholic cemetery. There are a few striking differences between Hollywood and Mt. Calvary; and, since they are located right next to one another, it’s hard not to compare them. 

Mt. Calvary is filled with crosses and religious statues. While you’ll see an occasional cross in Hollywood, crosses were considered by the Victorians to be associated with Catholicism. Both cemeteries have their share of angels.

 
Mt. Calvary also has sections for religious groups, including around the central crucifix for higher ranking Catholic officials such as priests and bishops. Over to the side was a beautiful section of Catholic nuns.

Mt. Calvary also has a section for Interment of Angels, where little unborn babies from the hospital are buried at no cost to the family. There is a statue honoring the unborn child and a memorial garden given by the Richmond Knights of Columbus. I just want to clarify that this is for families who are hoping to take home their little ones but a medical emergency makes this impossible. From my own best friend’s perspective, she went through labor too early in her pregnancy and lost her twins. Having planned for babies, her family was already financially strapped with baby clothes and furniture. The cost of a funeral was certainly not on their radar. When I read that this was a cooperative effort among Richmond area hospitals, Bliley Funeral Home and The Catholic Diocese of Richmond, I could not help but think how generous and loving this is.

There were some distinct markers that I had not seen in other cemeteries including this resting child within a shell. The shell is a symbol of the Christian pilgrimage.

There were also distinct markers like these made out of small stones, and these that have an arch connecting two separate markers.

Finally, it appears that many of the statues are in a bit better shape than those in Hollywood Cemetery. This could be because of less foot traffic, and perhaps even the lack of trees in Mt. Calvary. Trees, as lovely as they are, do cause a good amount of damage.

While I need to do some research on some of the individuals buried at Mt. Calvary, this post is more of a visual overlay of the cemetery.