Sacred Symbols of Oakland

SACRED SYMBOLS OF OAKLAND A Guide to the Many Sacred Symbols of Atlanta’s Oldest Public Cemetery • RICHARD WATERHOUSE • Photographs by DINNY HARPER ADDISON Foreword by MARY ANN EADDY Goosepen Studio & Press Conover, North Carolina Copyright © 2010 For by Richard Waterhouse. CALEB BROWN Photographs copyright © 2010 by Dinny Harper Addison. who continues to explore with me historic cemeteries, churches, and other sacred spaces All rights reserved. throughout the world, looking for unique symbols. Designed, set in Trajan and Garamond Premier, and published by Nathan W. Moehlmann Goosepen Studio & Press Conover, North Carolina. www.GoosepenPress.com Printed and bound in the United States of America by Thomson-Shore. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. isbn 978-0-9793631-3-9 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 CONTENTS Foreword ix Preface xv vi Introduction xix McNamara Angel 3 Brown Angel 7 Kiser Angel 9 Lion of Atlanta 11 Bryant Lambs 13 Shumate Oak Leaf, Chrysalis & Butterfly 15 Farris Dead Dove & Stump 17 Our Thomas Angel 19 Inman Girl Angel 21 Maurine Scallop Shell 23 Oldknow Tilted Latin Cross 25 Kontz Monument 27 Neal Celtic Cross 29 Sullivan Crown & Cross 31 Porter Casket 33 Gray Weeping Woman 35 Confederate Dead Obelisk 37 Collier Mausoleum 39 Wilson Hand of God 41 Arnold Broken Chain 43 FOREWORD Domini Order of Odd Fellows 43 Graves St. Anthony 45 n the mid-nineteenth century, American cities changed Howard St. Cecilia 47 Ithe way they buried their dead. In colonial America and the early Rawson St. John 49 years of the republic, town burials were primarily in churchyards and viii Wooding Weeping Willow 51 public graveyards. These spaces increasingly became crowded and un- ix Saloshin Weeping Willow 53 sanitary as communities grew. Public health was a concern. Society Marcellus Woodmen of the World Stump 55 changed in other ways. Ideas about death and dying were reexamined. Kiser Anchor & Cross 57 Romanticizing nature and art gained popularity while urban centers English Urn 59 expanded. Trends in English landscape design inspired American cre- Jones Urn with Flame 61 ativity. The result was a major shift in American landscape design – the Marsh Urn 63 Rural Garden Cemetery Movement. Kleinert Raised Hands 65 The premise was simple. Cemeteries should be places of beauty and Wasser Pitcher & Basin 67 tranquility where the bereaved could find comfort. Romantic, park- Feinberg Star of David 69 like settings provided family and friends pleasant places to visit and contemplate life, both in the hereafter and on earth. About the Author 71 Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, designed in 1831, was the earli- About the Photographer 72 est of the Rural Garden cemeteries. Nearly twenty years later in 1850, Index 73 this movement influenced the design of Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery. Originally six acres, Oakland, over time, expanded to forty-eight and today contains over seventy thousand graves. Its cultural and historic importance to the city is almost immeasurable. As a cultural landscape, Oakland is distinctive both for its design and for its collec- tion of Victorian cemetery art. As a tangible record of Atlanta’s his- tory, Oakland is the final resting place for both the humble and the distinguished. Confederate generals, Georgia governors, mayors, and expanded his knowledge and in 2000 developed a tour of Oakland, focusing on symbolism. His desire to share what he has learned led to this publication. With an understanding of Oakland’s symbols, the reader and po- tential visitor gain a greater comprehension of Victorian concepts of xii death and, in turn, life. The cemetery is not simply a place to bury the xiii dead, but a place to appreciate the importance of faith and love and see their physical expression carved into monuments and gravestones. Sculpture that alludes to ancient Greece and Rome and classical my- thology enhances the experience. This work comes at an opportune time. The 2008 tornado dam- aged a number of the monuments and art mentioned in the following pages. Many of the photographs by Dinny Addison provide a timely record of the way the cemetery looked before the storm. Readers interested in symbolism, cemetery art, Oakland, or historic cemeteries will find this publication worthy of their attention. In re- cent years the preservation community has noticed a growing interest in the identification and protection of historic cemeteries. This vol- ume by Richard Waterhouse will be a welcome contribution to the body of literature that helps us better understand and appreciate such fascinating places. Mary Ann Eaddy Special Assistant to the Director Georgia Historic Preservation Division Department of Natural Resources, Atlanta, Georgia PREFACE n the spring of 1985, I was in Thornton Wilder’s playOur Town I at Georgia State University. The closing scene takes place in a cemetery, and I played the part of Sam Craig, who has moved away and xiv comes back to pay his last respects to Emily Webb, the lead charac- xv ter. Sam strikes up a conversation with Joe Stoddard, the grave digger. “Joe” and I would walk a short eight blocks to practice our lines in the aura of Oakland – so began my admiration for this sacred place. In 1989, I had the privilege and honor to become a docent at Oak- land. Always fascinated by the symbols on the grave monuments and mausolea, I started giving symbolism tours of Oakland in 2000 and include here many of the symbols shared on the tours or “rambles” as they are better known. While writing this book, I realized that we all have an incredible support system of colleagues, family, and friends who push our lives creatively. Some of my Oakland friends who helped with research include Eleanor Baughman, Rosalind Hillhouse, Ruth Middleton, and Cathy Vogel. When I needed an epitaph or historical note, they were right there for me. After more than twenty years of serving as an Oak- land guide, I have met some incredibly dedicated people who could write books as well, and I am humbled that they were willing to share their expertise. I have also had the full support of my two angels: Sharon Bennett and Martha Battle Jackson. I am convinced that we all have angels in our lives who are always there, encouraging every creative endeavor. Nathan Moehlmann continued to push my writing toward new depths. Dinny Harper Addison, who made the beautiful photographs, and Mary Ann Eaddy, who wrote the insightful foreword, took this book from ordinary to extraordinary. We are all indebted to the wisdom and guidance of Reid Benson xvi and Betty Sherwood. We still feel their presence in Oakland Cem- xvii etery every time we lead a tour. In many ways, Reid and Betty are all the guides’ guardian angels. Reid’s grave and that of his beloved minia- ture schnauzer, Jodie, are now part of the Historic Oakland Cemetery Self-Guided Tour & Map. (It was a secret for many years that Reid had buried his dog on the plot.) And now Betty has a brick path named after her, a highly deserved memorial. Where would we be without support from our mothers? Susan Gelsthorpe Waterhouse Bryan has always asked about the book and listened to my excitement for many hours. My mother has always been interested in my many projects and always pushed me to explore all of them no matter how difficult that journey might be. Thanks to you all. Richard Waterhouse July 12, 2010 INTRODUCTION akland cemetery was founded in 1850 by the City of OAtlanta. The small burial ground at what is now Peachtree and Baker Streets in the middle of downtown where Capitol City Club is xviii currently located was not large enough for almost 2,800 people. At- xix lanta’s founding fathers decided to go beyond the city’s boundaries for a new cemetery, which in 1850 was six acres and by 1867 approximately forty-eight acres, its present size. It is the final resting place of many famous Atlantans, among them Selena Sloan Butler, Joseph E. Brown, John B. Gordon, Bobby Jones, Carrie Steele Logan, and Margaret Mitchell. Dr. James Nissen was the first burial after the site became a public cemetery in 1850, but members of the Wooding family, who owned the farmland in the area, were buried here in 1841, in what would become the first six acres of Oakland. Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901, and as a Victorian cemetery, Oakland reflects the sundry architectural and decorative styles of the period, as well as the rich Victorian codes of symbolism. The Ru- ral Garden Cemetery Movement shifted attitudes toward cemeteries from forbidding places where bodies were buried to alleviate disease to beautiful, peaceful grounds for remembrance and contemplation, with families carefully planning the monuments, and therefore symbols, by which their dead would be memorialized. What, though, is a symbol? A symbol is a material object that represents an abstract concept through association, convention, or MCNAMARA ANgel (1907) he angel acts as a guardian, messenger, and protector Tof the dead and communicates between God and mankind, the wings portraying divine mission. At one time, the McNamara angel 2 pointed to heaven with a writing instrument (a loss not due to the 3 March 14, 2008, tornado). She writes down Annie McNamara’s good deeds on the scroll and with the raised hand leads Annie’s soul heav- enward, confirming her eternal life. Miraculously, the McNamara angel did not herself sustain much damage during the tornado even though a huge tree split and hit the comfort station behind her.

Load more