From Hollywood Cemetery’s FaceBook page:
There will be a memorial for Jefferson Davis this Saturday at 9am. The memorial service is a family event complete with music, poems, and keynote speaker. There will also be a marching bagpipe band, honor guard and musket salute.
The event is free and open to the public.
I have been also informed that there will be cannon fire, lots. It will all be over by 11:00 am.
Get ready for VCU’s Project Clean Move. In addition to trash cleanups, volunteers will load reusable items to give to nonprofits this Saturday, May 31, from 8 a.m – 12 p.m. Separate your trash and reusable items and leave them out before 8 a.m. The Randolph/Oregon Hill truck will likely handle Randolph from 8-10 and Oregon Hill from 10-12. Speaking of which, we need volunteers in Oregon Hill. Please get in touch ASAP if you can help out tomorrow.
Expect some gunfire sounds from Hollywood Cemetery at some point tomorrow afternoon/evening. The cemetery is hosting a ceremony in the Soldiers Section at the speakers stand, with rifle fire. The ceremony should begin about 3PM and last about 2 hours.
Hollywood Cemetery is also hosting a special Civil War Walking Tour tomorrow from 2 to 4 pm.
From the Pyramid to the gravesite of Jefferson Davis, high above the James River, Hollywood Cemetery is the final resting place for thousands of Confederates. Come visit the graves of such notables as J.E.B. Stuart, George Pickett, Fitzhugh Lee, Jefferson Davis and many others whose stories continue to capture our imagination 150 years after the Civil War began. Meet at the cemetery entrance at Cherry and Albemarle streets. $15 per person $5 for History Center Members and children under 12 Walk-ups welcome. Cash or check, or purchase online at richmondhistorytours.com. On-street parking. This tour is presented as part of the Richmond History Tours program, a service of the Valentine Richmond History Center.
Hollywood Cemetery is planning a ceremony at J.E.B. Stuart‘s grave site this Saturday, May 10th. This is in addition to a planned one in soldiers section. I guess we’ll have boom-booms several times that day.
Also, on Sunday, take your mother on a Sunday Specialty Tour of Hollywood Cemetery. An extension of the daily “Highlights” tour, this version covers in more detail the cemetery’s unique history, landscape design, architecture, symbols and residents.
Henrico Citizen newspaper Managing Editor Patty Kruszewski has a nice opinion piece in the latest issue about a small controversy regarding the use of cemeteries. (Click here to see it as PDF)
In it, she mentions her own’s daughter’s burial place in Hollywood Cemetery.
Quote: “I would never have thought to bring my own children to Hollywood (Cemetery) or to use it as a playground or public spot, but it makes perfect sense. It’s beautiful, it’s public, it’s historic”.
Actually Hollywood Cemetery is still a private business that opens to the public. Kruszewski also rightly brings up the role of the cemetery as a valuable green space. We are very fortunate to live next to it.
Somewhat ironically, on the other side of the fence from the traffic congestion today were these relaxing scenes:
From Hollywood Cemetery’s FaceBook page:
Did you know that Hollywood is one of just three cemeteries with two U.S. presidents? Join us on Saturday, March 29th at 11am for a birthday celebration honoring the 10th President of the United States, John Tyler.
From email message from Hollywood Cemetery management:
I wanted to make you aware of a ceremony we are having on Saturday, March 15, at 10:00 am to about 11:00 am. There will be cannon fire , about 10:30 am is what I am told.
Thanks for getting the word out to the neighborhood.
From Hollywood Cemetery management:
We are having a ceremony on 2/8/2014 for JEB Stuart at Noon and believe there will be rifle volley and/or cannon fire. We wanted to let you know so the neighborhood can be notified of the plans.
From Wikipedia entry on JEB Stuart:
Although he enjoyed the civil engineering curriculum at the academy (West Point) and did well in mathematics, his poor drawing skills hampered his engineering studies, and he finished 29th in that discipline. A Stuart family tradition says he deliberately degraded his academic performance in his final year to avoid service in the elite, but dull, Corps of Engineers.
Richmondbizsense.com has an article on Hollywood Cememtery. Excerpt:
Looking to promote its available space, the 167-year-old Hollywood Cemetery has hired a marketing agency to spread the word for its burial and cremation options, including cremation niches in “Presidents Circle.”
“So many people assume that, because the cemetery was established so long ago, that it must be full,” said David Gilliam, the cemetery’s general manager. “We want to get the word out that Hollywood is still a choice for people to consider.”
Addison Clark, a marketing agency on Monument Avenue, scored the account for the historic Oregon Hill burial ground on South Cherry Street.
This is its first cemetery client, but managing partner Jeff Allen said the firm would market it like it would other historic landmarks. It will revamp the cemetery’s website, improve its search engine marketing and give it a social media presence by playing up its historical significance.
“The challenge they have is a lot of folks think of them as a historic landmark, almost an outdoor museum, but they are open for business,” Allen said.