Cleveland, Tennessee

Honoring Our Public Servants ~ County Judges:  As a county judge and public servant, he presided over the county court system, which, in Tennessee, meant he was more like a county executive. He held the office for over a decade and a half, a tribute to the respect afforded him by the community. The mystery of the headstone hangs over the family name: What letter of the alphabet is that? Fort Hill Cemetery. [2020]

Chattanooga, Tennessee

The First Shall be Last, and The Last First:  All that remains of the Brainard Missionary Station is the cemetery. One of the students is "Buried Here." His Cherokee name was Atsi, but he was soon re-Christened. Even his new name began with an A, though. Not only was he a student, he was an interpreter and "exorter." He died in his 27th year, thus missing the even greater tragedy that was to befall his beloved Cherokee nation. Your assignment: Write a screen play attesting to the life of Atsi, a life spent in that miasmatic zone between two worlds and between two times. Brainerd Mission Cemetery. [2013]

Cookeville, Tennessee

Portraits Etched into Granite:  What was life like when she was coming of age in the 1950s? Her portrait tells the story. Could it be her high school yearbook picture? Every few decades "big hair" makes a come-back. Remember the 1980s? You have not been the same "you" your entire life, so which you will be portrayed on your headstone?  Cookeville Cemetery. [2019]

Crossville, Tennessee

Cemetery Visitors:  She has come again to tend the graves of her parents. Not sure about "again." but her deportment seems so practiced. Not sure about "parents," but the chronology on the headstones fits. If they are her parents, the year 2007 must have been a low point in her life: Both died that year, and within a few months of each other. Coincidentally, they were also born within a few months of each other. Crossville City Cemetery. [2019]

Alcoa, Tennessee

January is for Palindromes:  Somebody's brother stepped across the divide in a palindromal year and, then, passed on. It all happened in January, under the gaze of Janus, the god of palindromes. Sherwood Memorial Gardens. [2016]

Lebanon, Tennessee

January is for Palindromes:  Is being married during a palindromal year a good omen? Does it suggest a union of balance and sharing in which love flows equally in both directions? Only a few couples are able to say their marriage was blessed by a palindrome. Only those couples married in what years? By the way, is the cross a palindrome? Does it read the same forwards and backwards? Cedar Grove Cemetery. [2016]

Franklin, Tennessee

Commemorating Historic Cemeteries:  With the American and French Revolutions as his models, a slave named Toussaint L'Ouverture led the rebellion that resulted in Haiti's independence in 1804. Of course, he is not buried here, but his memory is kept alive by virtue of a Tennessee historical marker. Who is buried here? People of African descent, many nameless, who, by virtue of the segregated society in which they lived, needed a burying place of their own. Toussaint L'Ouverture Cemetery. [2010]

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Twas the Week Before Christmas: The location is Chattanooga, so what would you expect in the middle of the national cemetery there? A Chattanooga Choo Choo, of course. Buried here are Medal of Honor recipients. They participated in the "Great Locomotive Chase" during the Civil War. Chattanooga National Cemetery. [2013]

Chattanooga, Tennessee

H is for House:  They were both born in 1911, but they became a single house only in 1953. By that time they were in their their forties. Was there a starter house in their future? Did they build a whole neighborhood? Does the House of House live on? Silverdale Cemetery. [2013]

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Christmas Comes to the Graveyard:  In military service, it's all about conforming to standards. It's no different in military graveyards. Even Christmas wreaths are standard-issue evergreen circles bedecked by standard-issue red ribbons. Chattanooga National Cemetery. [2013]

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Pastor Buried Here:  The pyramid (in this case, a truncated pyramid) has forever been associated with nobility. On the American frontier, pastors were probably the closest things there were to nobles. In this case, Rev. Dr. Worcester was a noble of the Congregational Church. He served on the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. He died on the frontier, far from his native Massachusetts. Brainerd Mission Cemetery. [2013]

Cleveland, Tennessee

Getting Ready for Mother's Day:  "A Mother to All" was Pat. If these foothills of the Blue Ridge were still inhabited by their native peoples, the Cherokee, she would have been a village elder known as "The Beloved Woman." Both titles seem to capture the folk culture of east Tennessee: tight-knit, communal, and gently matriarchal. Fort Hill Cemetery. [2014]

Greeneville, Tennessee

From Adam's Rib:  If you live in the South (and even if you don't), go collect some data in your local cemetery. Find the final resting places of husband-and-wife couples and make a log of the micro-geography of their graves. Is the wife to the left or the right of her husband? Before you start, generate a hypothesis about the spatial arrangement you expect to be revealed by the empirical data. Grace Land Cemetery. [2009]

Some of Our Dreams Came True,
Others Dreamed Are Not To Be.

White Pine, Tennessee

Take My Hand:  Hootie and the Blowfish sang it with such a good-time vibe, but they just might have had a cemetery in mind when they gave voice to these lines:
         "Want you to hold my hand
         Hold my hand
         I'll take you to the promised land
         Hold my hand"
Edwards Chapel Cemetery. [2009]

Across the years

I will walk with you – 

in deep green forests,

on shores of sand

and when our time

on earth is through

in heaven, too,

you will have my hand.

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Doors as Metaphors:  Do you see a headstone or an arched doorway? The traditional headstone took the shape of a door in the form of an arch, perhaps to symbolize triumphal passage from one world to the next. The Brainerd Mission was established to bring 'civilization' to the Cherokees, but one of the most uncivilized policies of the U.S. government was enacted exactly six months after this missionary couple's little boy died. The Indian Removal Act was signed into law and most of the Cherokees living in eastern Tennessee were moved out to the 'Great American Desert.' Brainerd Mission Cemetery. [2013]

White Pine, Tennessee

Palliative Poetry:  Perfect for the memorial.  Like 2Pac, he died before his time.
   When my heart can beat no more
   I hope I die for a principle
   Or a belief that I had lived 4
   I will die before my time
   Because I feel the shadows depth
   So much I wanted to accomplish
   Before I reached my death
   I have come 2 grips with the possibility
   And wiped the last tear from my eyes
   I loved all who were positive
   In the event of my demise
                                  Tupac Shakur
Edwards Chapel Cemetery.  [2009]

Greeneville, Tennessee

Music of the Angels ~ Guitars:  Ready for a concert? We've got the instrument (guitar), the voice (angel), and the venue (church). And, the audience is just arriving. Two methods are used to bring that very secular looking guitar into the realm of the sacred. First, note the cross on the headstock. Second, read the Bible passage at the bottom of the tableau noir. Graceland Memorial Gardens. [2009]

The Lord will save me, and we will sing with stringed instruments all the days of our lives
in the temple of the Lord. Isaiah 38: 19-21