[bctt tweet=”I have several friends who take frequent walks in a nearby historical community cemetery, bringing back photos and stories of their experiences there” username=”@sheilakcollins”]. So this past Memorial Day, when a friend invited me to take a tour of that cemetery guided by an archivist, I took her up on the idea. I’ve not gone to a cemetery unless for a funeral, but when I was growing up, Dad often stopped at cemeteries when we were on a road trip to visit relatives. He’d catch a glimpse of the historical marker, and pull over for a brief rest stop and a history lesson for us kids. That’s how I learned that it wasn’t just old people that died. We saw lots of gravestones of young children in those places. When visiting our Dad’s relatives in Illinois we’d often picnic in the small family plot on the edge of their homestead farm. At a family reunion, our cousins who lived closer would lead the way to their favorite gravesite. We’d all call out “Hi, Uncle Arnie,” to the baby who would have been Dad’s older brother and our uncle, if he had not died at 4 months old.
[bctt tweet=”While walking the hilly terrain, my friends and I learned some of the history of the Homewood Cemetery. It was established as a non-profit, non-denominational entity in the mid-1800, and famous captains of industry served on the board overseeing its design and development.” username=”@sheilakcollins”] The name came from the mansion that belonged to the man who sold them the forested land. Before plotting the park-like setting all the trees were removed in order to place them exactly where they wanted them to be. Visiting various family plots and seeing many types of markers and headstones, it became clear that the cemetery is not just a place that houses the dead, it’s also the place that houses generations of stories, of individuals, families, and the larger community. We became intrigued by the Archivists job of finding and cataloging the stories of who the people were and how they were connected to the historical events of their time.
[bctt tweet=”I’ll go back. I want to learn more about the women who started out their public activism roles in the temperance movement and refocused to become suffragettes, gaining the vote for themselves and all we women who have come after. ” username=”@sheilakcollins”]
