The Living and The Dead

Historic Oakland Foundation marks 40 years of cemetery restoration

By Clare S. Richie

This October, the Historic Oakland Foundation (HOF) celebrates 40 years of restoring and sharing Oakland Cemetery’s 48 acres of gardens, sculpture and architecture in Atlanta’s oldest public burial ground.

In 1976, concerned descendants formed the foundation to partner with the city to save this historic jewel and encourage its public use. The city owns, manages and maintains the cemetery’s infrastructure, while HOF provides restoration and conducts tours and events.

“That was the genesis of what has become a real juggernaut for the east side – something so special for the neighborhood, city and country,” HOF executive director David Moore said.

Founded in 1850 to accommodate the burial needs of a growing city, Oakland Cemetery was conceived as a place for recreation amidst art.

“In the Victorian tradition, acreage outside of town was purchased to create a cemetery that was also a public park,” Moore said.

The historic landmark is the final resting place for more than 70,000 people – including 27 Atlanta mayors, six governors, 3,000 unmarked Confederate graves and about 7,500 people in Potter’s Field. Famous names, like author Margaret Mitchell, golf legend Bobby Jones and Morris Brown College founder Bishop Wesley John Gaines are juxtaposed with the unknown.

“[Atlanta historian] Franklin Garrett said this is the most tangible link to our past,” Moore reflected. Garrett is buried here, too.

The municipal cemetery did not provide perpetual care. Over time, most plots had no one left to maintain them.

“By the mid-1970s, the cemetery had really fallen into disrepair. Its gardens were largely gone and theft and vandalism had become serious problems. The cemetery reflected the neighborhood and vice versa,” Moore said.

Thanks to public and private support, HOF has restored eight acres and returned Oakland Cemetery to a desirable destination.

The first work was done near the Bell Tower, which serves as the visitor center and offices for the sexton and HOF staff.

“The gardens are really high style, providing the best examples of how the cemetery could look,” HOF Director of Development Laura Hennighausen said. A $200,000 matching grant from the National Park Service helped fix up 55 nearby mausoleums. HOF then worked on areas near access points, like the original six acres by the Oakland Avenue main gate and Memorial Drive pedestrian gate.

HOF is almost done restoring Georgia’s second oldest Jewish burial ground, thanks in part

Hilltop Charm

This classic “American Four Square” is graced with old world charm and character featuring huge sun-filled rooms, high ceilings, period moldings, and newly refinished floors. Floorplan includes a big, open kitchen, a bonus office/sunroom, a master bedroom with fireplace and a great “man-cave” on the lower level. Built in 1926, this two-story brick sits on a deep, lush lot. Grill out on the deck and relax on the screened porch. There’s covered parking for two. It’s truly a terrific intown to a $300,000 grant from The Rich Foundation. German Jewish immigrants were buried in this “forest-like” area with 7-foot markers tightly packed together.

Recovering from the 2008 tornado was a mixed blessing for HOF.

“It set us back a bit but we learned a lot – how to better work with the city, collaborate with partners. It put more visibility on the importance of this historic resource,” Moore said.

Since the tornado, HOF added more tours and more events – like the road race, historicallythemed Halloween night tours and Victorian holiday event. Annually, the cemetery welcomes more than 45,000 visitors.

“We provide something year round for people to come and learn,” Moore said.

Adding back a functional greenhouse in 2015 was a real coup. Oakland Cemetery housed Atlanta’s first greenhouse in the 1870s to sell flowers, lilies for resurrection and palm fronds to indicate triumph. By the 1970s, it was in ruins. But when the Atlanta History Center had to move a greenhouse to make way for the Cyclorama, HOF knew where it could find refuge.

“It came here like an Erector Set – set up within an inch of the original walls. We’re really proud of this greenhouse – it shows what we’re capable of doing,” Moore said.

HOF is conducting a major restoration of the African American grounds. In 1877, hundreds of people of color were exhumed from the original six acres and reburied in another section.

“There are a lot of unmarked graves in the African American grounds. Last year, ground penetrating radar identified 872 potential sites for unmarked graves,” Hennighausen said. HOF celebrated their 40th with a campaign to raise $40,000 in 40 days for current projects. But it has its eye to the future with work underway on a second master plan.

“As the neighborhood revitalizes, we are pushed to restore the remainder in the next 15 to 20 years instead of the track we’re on which is maybe the next 100 years based on what we’ve been able to raise and accomplish so far,” Moore said.

The plan will likely need icreased public and private support.

“The revitalization along the Memorial Drive corridor is in part a result of our work. “We are worth funding not only for the educational and cultural experience unique to Oakland, but also for the economic impact we provide for the city,” Moore said.

For upcoming events and tours or to donate, visit oaklandcemetery.com.

Pets

Pet Pick

Basil is as smooth and steady as they come. She loves to go outside in the fresh air, and she loves to sit with the staffers and volunteers who drop by for a visit. Basil radiates calm and she’s so, so easy. She seems to like other dogs and is good with cats. Basil is not fancy or demanding. A comfortable bed, belly rubs, and easy walks would make her the happiest dog. She would fit well in any home. To adopt Basil or any of the other cats and dogs looking for a home, visit PAWS Atlanta at pawsatlanta.org or drop by the shelter at 5287 Covington Highway in Decatur.

By Clare S. Richie

In 1947, two years after World War II ended, Henry W. Grady High School opened its doors in Midtown to welcome students from its precursor schools, Boys High and Tech High, and became co-ed.

Grady will mark its 70th anniversary on Nov. 3 - 4. The festivities kick off Friday night

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• Developing our students’ passion

• Building on our past

• Focused on our future

• at 8 p.m. with the Knights’ final home football game. Saturday starting at 1 p.m., there will be an open house with exhibits, speakers, reunions and tours of the school. At 6 p.m., a cocktail reception will be held across the street at Park Tavern, featuring The Soundhaus Band with Grady Alumni from the ‘50s and ‘60s.

“This 70th anniversary is a chance for Grady to celebrate itself and its deep legacy of achievement and service to its graduates and the city of Atlanta,” said John Brandhorst, vice chair of the Grady High School Foundation. “This is a fresh opportunity to develop an active network among all constituents to better recognize our history and to support and celebrate our future.”

Elliott Levitas (Class of ’48) still remembers his transition from Boy’s High to attending Grady. Levitas, the first editor the school’s newspaper, The Southerner, and a Rhodes Scholar, went on to represent Georgia’s 4th District in the U.S. House of Representatives where he helped create the Chattahoochee River National Park after serving 10 years in the Georgia House of Representatives, and continues practicing law today.

“In many of the activities, we created co-positions boy/girl. We felt like the founding parents of a new country, because everything was being done for the first time and decisions were being made about school colors, mascot and nicknames. All of these decisions were group decisions,” Levitas said.

Levitas will be honored on Nov. 4 at the 3 p.m. inaugural presentation of the Grady High School Wall of Fame.

“I remember one very moving moment was when we were at the printers and the first edition of The Southerner newspaper came off the presses. After all those days and weeks of working on it with new people and the new idea for a school newspaper – there it was. We held it in our hands and looked at it. It was a very important event,” Levitas remembered.

His senior year taught him that “change is not a threat it can be an opportunity.”

That spirit of opportunity and achievement continued in the decades that followed. In 1961, Grady was the first high school in Georgia to racially integrate students and made national headlines for a peaceful transition.

Current students may discover they have more in common with past alumni than they thought. For instance, many generations have attended classes in portables.

“For several years after Grady opened, a lot of the classes were held in wooden buildings called portables adjacent to structure that’s there now, which had no central heating,” Levitas recalld. “The only heat was supplied by a potbelly stove in one corner of the room that was burning coal.”

And perhaps other alumni also met their future spouse or partner through Grady. That’s where Levitas got to know his wife Barbara better, who was a senior class officer several years after Levitas graduated.

To order cocktail reception tickets ($30 each, or 2 for $50), send a check payable to “Grady HS Foundation” to Grady HS Foundation, P.O. Box 487, 931 Monroe Drive, Suite 102, Atlanta, GA 30308, or click the Paypal link on gradyhsfoundation.org.