Communities of Difference Share a Final Resting Place: Mount Hope cemetery is huge, yet within a few steps in any direction you can see headstones calling attention to California's cultural diversity. Today we add English to the mix of cemetery languages. It joins Armenian, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Russian. But, don't simply assume you have found an Anglo-American, just because of the name and inscription. Take a gander at the verso and you will find a solitary cross, but one that is so unique it betrays a particular ancestry group: Armenians. The cross turns the headstone into an Armenian khachkar. "Forever in our hearts" reads the inscription; and also on the verso are four hearts. Are these symbolic of her children? If so, why not inscribe their names into each one? And, then there is the musical notation: That's an alphabet, too! Mount Hope Cemetery. [2020]
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