New Orleans - Greenwood Cemetery...

Greenwood Cemetery was created in 1852 and was the first cemetery in New Orleans to be free from surrounding walls.  It was built by the Firemen’s Charitable and Benevolent Association which, unfortunately, was kept busy with burials thanks in part to the serious amount of danger that early firefighters encountered in cities...

The plots here differ from St. Louis #1 and Metairie in a myriad of ways.  They are a lot smaller and much more organized.  Religious and other iconography are not abundantly found in engravings.  Instead of that you'll find a plethora of religious figurines that mirror each other.  Wait til you see the last picture in this series!  There is a uniformity here that makes the unusual (like the Bacchus pendant and Buddist tomb), and even the several seen, become even more prominent and striking.  I stopped counting the Virgin Mary statues after I reached 50 on one block but when I began to look closer that them I became intrigued with them...the same but so very different. See for yourself...

With the screeching wheels of the graffiti laden train rolling by, I shot photos for several hours in the slightly muggy heat and I couldn't be more pleased with the results.  Except if I'd been able to find and photograph John Kennedy Toole's grave...now that would've been something!

Oh, and how many Mary's can you count in the last picture?

New Orleans - Metairie Cemetery...

This cemetery is one of my favorites ever in the whole entire world!  The first being Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, of course.  While St. Louis #1 had the history that caught my attention, this cemetery had the type of iconography and ornamentation that I absolutely love.  

With the sky overcast and threatening rain the few colors found around seemed to stand out in even more stark relief against the dark marble obelisks and tombstones.  The purple of the Vitex Bush.  The red of clay accents.  The stark white of a lingering bloom on a funeral bouquet.  The gold of a 70 year old display behind glass in a still used family tomb.  The green of tarnished copper...

You can find a brief history of how the cemetery came to be here.  From racetrack to grandiose graves.  Madams and dignitaries and heroes and the everyday average folks.  This place has it all...

New Orleans - St. Louis #1...

One of the first things I did in New Orleans (right after jumping in the Inn's saltwater pool) was to schedule a guided walk around the city's oldest cemetery - St. Louis #1.  While the tour was a bust (sad!) the cemetery itself and the church that was once the receiving building for all the city's dead were a sight to behold!  St. Louis #1 has no rhyme or reason with tomb placement (you'll walk down an aisle only to find a marble structure suddenly blocking the path) and many of them are in states of major disrepair thanks in part to years of neglect and scavenging of statues, brick, etc.  Despite all that there is nothing you can do but marvel at the history...

St. Jude, also known as Thaddeus, is the residing saint at the church...

It's said that if you knock on (what is deemed to be) Marie Laveau's tomb, turn in a circle, make a wish, mark 3 x's on the tomb and turn in a circle again that your wish would come true.  Once it did then you were to return and leave offerings.  Marie's grave, freshly recovered from a terrible bout of vandalism, is already covered with marks and gifts of flowers, makeup and small change.  It's also said that 10% of the population of New Orleans practices Voodoo in some form or fashion.  Whoa!

An offering left in nod to a long ago history of events...

A lot of my guidebooks said not to come here, or most cemeteries in the French Quarter or anywhere in New Orleans really, alone but I think that with the exception of just a few locales the idea is to not to go at night.  But of course, always use your best judgement!  I have to say there were so many people St. Louis #1 when I went!  Hundreds of us cramped in the small space with mule drawn carriages waiting on the road out front.  Out of everything I did there in New Orleans, this was by far the hottest, cramped and overwhelming thing I experienced.  Even Cafe Du Monde was a cake walk in comparison.  No regrets, of course but if you were to go then skip the tour and go on your on early in the day.  You'll get a really good lookin' sunburn if you go at 12 noon in the broiling sun.  Trust me.

Tunes From The Tombs...

Hey, did you all know that I'm now an Ambassador for Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta?  Well, hell, now you do!  And I'm thrilled to announce that they have a rockin' event happening this weekend.  There'll be spirits (the boozy kind), food (local food trucks...yum), all kinds of musical performances and tours of the cemetery.  If you're in the downtown ATL area then you should make it a point to stop by! 

Save the date for Tunes from the Tombs, Historic Oakland Cemetery’s annual all-day music festival, 1-8 p.m., June 14, featuring musicians performing in and amongst Oakland’s extraordinary monuments, mausoleums and renowned gardens. Two main stages will host amplified artists, while buskers will perform on distinct vignette stages throughout the cemetery. From rock to folk, Americana to jazz and classical to everything in between, a variety of tunes will entice everyone to boogie down. Soothe your stomach as well as your soul with good eats from Atlanta food trucks, which will be on-site serving a variety of tasty festival fare.

OFFICIAL LINEUP:

MailChimp Stage at Lion Square
1:15pm – Myles Brown
2:30pm – SG4
3:30pm – Secondhand Swagger
4:30pm – Tribute: A Celebration of the Allman Brothers
5:30pm – Mudcat
6:45pm – Shawn Mullins

Creative Loafing North Public Grounds Stage
1:00pm – Danny Brewer (from Besides Daniel)
2:00pm – Julea and her Dear Johns
3:00pm – Villain Family
4:00pm – Smooth Hound Smith
5:00pm – Blacktop Rockets
6:00pm – Ghost Riders Car Club
7:00pm – Derik Hultquist

Pop-Up Performances by:
Wasted Potential Brass Band
Sweet Auburn String Band
Uncle Daddy and the Kissin’ Cousins
Atlanta Sacred Harp Singers
Alex Commins & Todd Prusin
Jake Reeves
Katharine Cole
…and more!

Keep spirits alive with beer, wine, and soft drinks, all of which will be offered for sale on-site.
Festival attendees can also take a complimentary guided mini-tour of Oakland Cemetery, or have their fortunes read by Atlanta’s own, Esmere.

Sip suds at the Woodchuck Cider Garden where DJ Phiasco will be on tap to take requests.
All proceeds benefit Historic Oakland Foundation. The work of the Foundation is supported by grants from charitable foundations, individuals, and events like Tunes from the Tombs.

Tickets are available for $10 online, $5 for kids (online or at gate) and $15 at gate. Buy your tickets online here: http://www.ticketalternative.com/Events/26053.aspx

As an Ambassador to the Oakland cemetery I receive no monetary compensation for my work but I am invited to special events, etc, free of charge.  Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend this event due to work obligations.  Boo!

Funerary Art - Charleston II...

Tomorrow I'm attending a brown bag luncheon lecture series (Books and Bites it's called...cute eh?) hosted by the Athens-Clarke County library and can you guess what it might entail?  If you said 'death, mourning and mortuary practices' then you'll be 100% correct!  Kate Sweeney, author of American Afterlife, will tell us about how folks in the US have dealt with death in the past as well as some the more current ways that folks are asking to be buried, burned, remembered or recycled.  And what better way to prepare for the presentation than by reminiscing about my visit to the lovely Magnolia Cemetery we found on our trip to Charleston months ago...

In London and in America, the Victorian attitude was to create large park-like cemeteries separate from a place of worship where mourning the dead became an art form. Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston, SC is such a place. Founded in 1849 on the banks of the Cooper River, Magnolia is the oldest public cemetery in Charleston. Winding pathways and scenic ponds surrounded by large live oak trees with hanging Spanish moss encouraged Victorian era Charlestonians to spend the day among their deceased loved ones. - The Macabre Tourist

With the onset of that such said Victorian attitude we find that gravestone carvings became less religious and instead tend to be more artistic in nature.  Images of urns, wreaths, angels, weeping willows, flowers and other motifs (find out more about basic funerary art symbolism via my post here) began to appear on headstones and monuments all over the country but especially in the southern regions of the US.  One can even find evidence of Egyptian influenced art from time to time and, much more rare, a pyramid tomb...

Oh yes, this has definitely increased my desire to visit Charleston and Magnolia Cemetery again very soon.  I'd love to see what I missed (or at least a portion of it since the place is HUGE) and what everything looks like in the vibrant greens of spring instead of the golden browns of winter...