Gary-Summer: March 25, 2025 - Atlanta, Oakland Cemetery

Title: March 25, 2025 - Atlanta, Oakland Cemetery
Hike Info : Description : Background : Menu : Extra Photo's

Hike Info:

Type:Touring

Description:

I did not sleep well last night. I lounged around starting about 4:30 and finally dozed off then woke up at 7:30. Sherri got up shortly after I did. She is feeling better and willing to go out again. It looks like we will visit the Oakland Cemetery and the Atlanta Central Library where the Margaret Mitchell papers are held.

But before that, I fix us French toast for breakfast. Then I cleaned up. We do take our time going out the door. Today should be a light day, so there is not much rush, as if there is ever a rush.

Maynard Jackson

We leave after 11:20, picking up the #110 bus in front of Krogers. This will save us a few steps. The bus takes us to the MARTA Brookhaven station where we pick up our favorite train, one which is Gold. We transferred at Five Points onto the Green and I figured to go to the bus at the Georgia State University station. But there is a slight problem-how do we get out of the station? A nice guard at the school told us: get on the train and go down to King Memorial and we will be right there. We have found that Atlantians are soooo very friendly.

We went to the King Memorial station-the same one as last Saturday. Oakland Cemetery is right in back of it. We walked about two blocks and came to the “Visitor Center”. Actually, it is a store. We buy a map of the cemetery and one of the docents shows us where we really want to go, based upon what we said.

When we entered the Cemetery, the oldest part of it was on our left. It also seems to be a bit run down, or maybe just aged.. But after a few more steps, we see our first citizen which we know about, Maynard Jackson, the first Black mayor of Atlanta. I have probably just overstated my knowledge. There is name recognition and I knew that he was mayor, but that is about all. But he has an impressive marker.

Confederate Grave

Also, there is a marker for the Hibernian Benevolent Society of Atlanta-whatever that is. Apparently it is connected with the Irish section of the cemetery.

Then onward. We head due north. After about five minutes of strolling, we came to Mecca. This is the Mitchell-Marsh grave site. On one side of the marker is Margaret Mitchell’s parents. But on the other is the author herself along with her husband. Compared to other gravesite markers, theirs seems to be understated. But from my limited knowledge of the author, she did not like publicity so this would seem to fit into her character. We pay appropriate homage to her before moving on.

There is a section with a high mausoleum density. We observe them. This makes me wonder about the value of such edifices. I will be pondering that for the rest of our time in the cemetery. I see the name of a person whom we know from these parts and wonder if this is his family. He does not think so-I had Facebook Messaged him on this.

Cherry Tree in Bloom

Then it is past the greenhouse which does not have any greenery in it. Then the African-American Burial Grounds. There is a phone tour of this part of the grounds which if we were more prepared, we could have availed ourselves of. Cemeteries used to be more divided than they are now. Each ethnic or religion had there own area. In this case Blacks were not “good enough” to be buried close to Whites-see the YouTube lecture. Even though the Confederate Burial grounds are just catty corner to the African-American place. We do not go over to the Potter’s Field area with its unmarked graves.

Kenny Rogers

To go back to the Confederate Burial Grounds, there are those who had large burial monuments. But then there were hundreds, maybe into a thousand “traditional” gravestones with the person's name, and CSA on them. Some had what company they were with and the regiment. So sad all of the loss and in many ways the animality. I wonder how many more died without anybody knowing their names. Also where were the Union soldiersburied?

We then we went past the Jewish Burial Grounds-they did not look too much different than the rest of the Grounds. Two other “name” sites were on our list. The first was Kenny Rogers who we saw once in Fresno. The other was the golfer Bobby Jones. Particularly Rodgers' grave made me think that why have something so elaborate?

One Margaret Mitchel Sq

This gets me back to that wondering about burial monuments. I wondered how many of those monuments have people who come back and mourn them? Who are these elaborate places for? Are they for the living or more because the dead thought they needed something as grand as their ego’s or maybe during their time, they were great people and those of their time thought they needed to be remembered in this way? I think Margaret Mitchell had it right. Have something which just said I was here and now I am not. If you come by, remember something about me.

We stopped by the visitor center on the way out. Sherri looks and I read outside. Sherri had wondered what some of the symbols on the burial monuments meant. The docent at the center, a different one than when we went in, gives Sherri a bookmark with the various symbols and the reason. Such as a cloth over the monument meant this may be a Jewish person buried here as well as it may also symbolize a parting of the veil between this world and the next.

With GPSMyCity, they have a Gone With The Wind walking tour. Friday we visited two of the sites: the Margaret Mitchell House and the Georgia Terrace Hotel. Today we visited Oakland Cemetery which is the third. The last one is the Atlanta Central Library.

We hop on the Green train and return to Five Points. When we got out of the station, we must have looked like tourists, because a man came up and directed us where to go. An 18 year old homeless guy follows us saying that he is hungry. We give him a bag of almonds.

Carter Books

Shortly afterwards we came to Margaret Mitchell Square. The library is right there. We go in and have a TSA style search. But we passed. We are told that the Margeret Mitchell exhibit is on the third floor. We use the elevator. In looking at the exhibit, which consists of some of her artifacts such as a typewriter and her library card, her reference books and some copies of Gone With The Wind. All of these are behind glass on shelves. After the museum at the Margaret Mitchell House, this is a bit understated. We spent a total of ten minutes there.

We then descend into the Peachtree Station. Descend is the right word as it goes a long way down. But we are able to catch the Gold train back to Brookhaven.

Fox Brothers

By this time it is 4:00pm and we are starting to get hungry. Across Peachtree Station are some restaurants. After pondering for a while, we decided that barbeque is good. We went to Fox Brothers BBQ-apparently it is a local chain as we see others later on. We both ordered a pulled pork sandwich. I had fries and Sherri with Mac&Cheese. Both are good tasting and satisfying.

Then it is a walk back to the AirBnB. We do not do much more this evening, except to plan out the second week of being in Atlanta. We will go to the MLK National Historic Park tomorrow. Then the Atlanta History Center on Thursday and Friday the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library. I get to bed a little after 10. Sherri is later than that.

Background

Union Burial Site. Later I found out that the Union soldiers were buried in a National Cemetery in Marietta, GA. There were 13,000 soldiers buried there.

Bobby Jones. The Country Club which I walked by yesterday? Bobby Jones was a member of it.