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What's New at Arcadia
Historic Burial Grounds of the New Hampshire Seacoast By Glenn A. Knoblock
Arcadia Publishing has releases a new title in the Images of America series, the historic account of the cemeteries along the New Hampshire Seacoast. This collection is a must for anyone interested in local history, genealogy, or colonial-era art. Please visit Arcadia Publishing to purchase your copy of Historic Burial Grounds of the New Hampshire Seacoast and browse other cemetery books!
Green-Wood Cemetery By Alexandra Mosca
Arcadia Publishing announces the release of the historic account of one of New York's most famous cemeteries. Aracdia Publishing's Images of America series has an extensive catalog of many cemetery publications! Please visit Arcadia Publishing to purchase your copy of Green-Wood Cemetery.
Announcements
Quoting Death in Early Modern England: The Poetics of Epitaphs Beyond the Tomb By Scott L. Newstok
An innovative study of the Renaissance practice of making epitaphic gestures within other English genres. A poetics of quotation uncovers the ways in which writers including Shakespeare, Marlowe, Holinshed, Sidney, Jonson, Donne, and Elizabeth I have recited these texts within new contexts. Visit Palgrave Macmillan and purchase your copy today!
Living by the Dead By Ellen Ashdown with illustrations by Mary Liz Moody.
A memoir about living beside a cemetery--and about the members of my family who came to rest at Roselawn Cemetery in Tallahassee, Florida. Please visit Kitsune Books for more information.
Graveyards of Chicago: The People, History, Art, and Lore of Cook County Cemeteries By Matt Hucke And Ursula Bielski.
Discover a Chicago That Exists Just Beneath the Surface - About Six Feet Under! Take a tour of Chicago's permanent residents! Please visit the Lake Claremont Press website to purchase your copy of Graveyards of Chicago today!
Epitaphs: The Magazine for Cemetery Lovers By Cemetery Lovers
For information regarding subscriptions, single issues, submission guidelines, deadlines, classifieds or advertising for future issues, please visit The Cemetery Club.
Guardians of the Soul: Angels and Innocents, Mourners and Saints with photography by John Bower and foreword by Claude Cookman
Indiana's remarkable cemetery sculpture is now available. Please visit Studio Indiana for more information.
West Springfield Massachusetts: Stories Carved in Stone by Rusty Clark
Features information on early New England gravestone carvers with more than two hundred photos and illustrations. Please visit the Dog Pond Press website.
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Cemetery enlivens Civil War studies |
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Friday, 17 June 2005 |
Sometimes a graveyard can help history come alive.
On Friday morning, fifth-grade students from Madison Elementary School crossed the street to Mount Vernon Cemetery, where Civil War veterans are buried.
Their teacher, Gayle Metcalf, has been taking her class to the graveyard for 10 years.
"They've never thought of a cemetery in terms of history or interest," Metcalf said. "To them, it's always been spooky or about visiting someone they know."
The students worked alone or in small groups, crouching down and squinting at the gravestones to determine the man buried there was a Civil War veteran. They carefully recorded the veterans' names and where their regiments were based.
They figured out the clues to determine whether a gravestone marks a veteran's burial site. A sheriff's badge, for example, often indicates Union membership.
The state of birth also indicated allegiance. The students had a map of the United States with the Union states colored blue and Confederate states colored gray.
Still, Ryan McGrath cautioned that, "There's no way we can tell. Just because they were from that state doesn't mean they had to be from either the Union or the Confederates."
Veronica Yell, 11, said she liked seeing Union and Confederate gravestones near each other. She also was keeping an eye out for World War II veterans. Her grandfather fought in that war.
And Lizbeth Jimenez, 11, thought she might stumble upon her great-grandmother's burial site.
"I think my great-grandma is buried here — I think she had something to do with the Navy — but I don't know where," Lizbeth said.
The students ran from one mossy gravestone to the next to find veterans, but they also were looking for a member of the Iron Brigade. The Iron Brigade was made up of men in black cowboy hats who supported the Yankees during the Civil War.
An 11-year-old named Irina Feskova found the Iron Brigade as her group scoured a row of gravestones in the northwest corner of the cemetery. Erika Hernandez Lopez, a member of Irina's small group, let out a loud whoop and the class came running.
"Irina found it, Irina found it," Erika said to be sure Irina would get credit. "Let's all clap for Irina."
As the excitement of finding the Iron Brigade site waned, a small cluster of students stuck around and chatted about why they liked scurrying about the cemetery.
Eleven-year-old Patrick Verschoor said, "It teaches us about our history," and those around him nodded in agreement.
The term "our history" seemed ironic. Though most of the students consider themselves American to the bone, many are immigrants. Of the eight people standing around the Iron Brigade grave, six, including the Skagit Valley Herald reporter, were immigrants.
Patrick was born in Holland. Irina arrived from the Ukraine about four years ago. And Erika Hernandez Lopez was born in Mexico. Not that it seemed to make a difference.
"We're all from Mount Vernon," Erika said.
Isolde Raftery can be reached at 360-416-2148 or by e-mail at
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http://www.skagitvalleyherald.com/articles/2005/06/11/news/news02.txt |
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