Lesson Plan
Made by School Programs at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History
Tombstone Tales
from Evergreen Cemetery 3rd-5th grade & 6th-8th grade
Background Tombstone Tales at Evergreen Cemetery is a field trip designed as a local history exploration adventure. The MAH runs Evergreen Cemetery as a historic site, and we see it as a museum without walls. It is a public site, where anyone can visit between sunrise and sunset. It is also a great place where students can learn the stories behind Santa Cruz’s earliest residents. Volunteer Volunteer at Evergreen each Friday for a deeper experience. Visit the MAH website for more details on how to sign up: santacruzmah.org/evergreen
Objective The people buried at Evergreen helped connect many to art, history, nature, and most importantly build more connected and meaningful communities. Participants will be able to understand the larger impacts early settlers had in shaping Santa Cruz through interactive activities and discussions. Land Acknowledgement Who and what was here before Evergreen Cemetery? Visit the Amah Mutsun Land Trust page to learn more about the history of this land.
CA Learning Standards CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.1, 3.2, 3.3 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.1, 4.2, 4.3 Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.2, 5.3, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.1, 6-8.2, 6-8.4, 6-8.7
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Prep & Materials Preparations Read all the documents over. At home or school, organize a space with all the material set out that you will be using. Depending on your age group, you will use different materials. Follow the instructions based on your grade level.
Suggested Materials Grades 3-5
Grades 6-8
• Binder Paper • Writing Materials
• Access to the Internet for research • Powerpoint Program OR Computer for typing paper • Library books for research
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Instructions Before presenting the reading material try asking your student(s) the following questions to inspire curiosity: • Why do we have cemeteries? Do you think we need them? • What are your first memories of visiting a cemetery? What did you think? Who did you go with? • What cemeteries have you visited? • What curiosities do you have about cemeteries? • Do you think of a cemetery as a historic place? • What sort of work do you think goes into preserving, upkeeping, and maintaining a cemetery? Introduce an easy icebreaker to connect movement and learning: A lot of people moved to California in hopes of finding gold. Why would you want to move to a new place for a specific reason? Idea 2: Have everyone in the room share one thing that can be found at a cemetery. No repeats. Feel free to write the words on the board or a paper. Some examples: trails, concrete, flowers, letters, pictures, numbers, vases, etc. Keep going until everyone is out or students run out of things to share.
Participants read each document under Reading Materials (pages 5-10). Transition to presenting the reading material to help students during the lesson. We recommend you start with Evergreen Cemetery and move your way through the individuals buried at Evergreen. There is quite a bit of reading material in this lesson, so make sure to allot time correctly.
Final Activity: Once students have read the material, move on to the final activity. We have activities based on different grade levels, select the one most appropriate for you.
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Final Activity Grades 3-5 The Arcan family packed their belongings in a covered wagon and moved across the country. Draw and explain in a sentence the five things you would bring if you had to travel in a covered wagon across the U.S. Would you bring necessary things to survive or things that are important to you and your family? Explain.
Grades 6-8 Watch a video called Lost Chinatowns on Vimeo to introduce the activity. The Chinese immigrants that moved to Santa Cruz had very specific ceremonies and practices for the deceased. From burning personal belongings to lighting firecrackers. Research another culture that has special ceremonies or traditions and make a PowerPoint presentation or write a paper describing what they are. Are these practices similar to yours? Compare and contrast.
Closing Evergreen Cemetery is a truly unique space. We are so thankful to have such a wonderful space in our city. Throughout the year the cemetery undergoes natural changes. Visiting cemeteries is almost like time traveling. Next time you get to visit Evergreen, take a look and notice something new!
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Evergreen Cemetery History Established in 1858, Evergreen Cemetery is one of the first public cemeteries in California. Before people started settling, Evergreen was home to indigenous native people who lived along the coast. The native people’s land was later colonized by the Spanish and was controlled by Mexico. At this time, only about 20 American settlers were living here. In 1849 the Gold Rush brought many more people to California and although no gold was found in Santa Cruz, many people decided to stay. With people settling down, Santa Cruz needed to provide a resting place for the dead. Mr. Imus, one the first few landowners during this time, decided to donate a portion of his land to the city since it was on a hillside and unsuitable for farming. Doctors, lawyers, judges, farmers, artists, soldiers, and people who died while homeless are buried at Evergreen. Even an opera singer named Enrico Tomaso (James Henry Thompson). At the MAH, we call Evergreen Cemetery the “museum without walls” as it is now maintained by the MAH and serves to honor the rich history of our County. Each person buried at Evergreen has a special story and they all helped in making Santa Cruz the city it is today.
Evergreen Gateway 1920s
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The Arcan Family
Heading to California
The Arcan family was living in Illinois when they heard that gold was discovered in California. They decided to join a wagon party near Salt Lake City, Utah, in October of 1849. They traveled for 6 months before reaching Santa Cruz! The Arcan Journey: Part 1 John and Abigail set out to California with their younger son, Charlie Arcan, in 1849. The Arcans traveled in covered wagons with their belongings, food, water, and oxen. They got the news that someone had created a shortcut map to California and decided to take it. The Arcan Journey: Part 2 During this ‘shortcut’ they battled the deserts of Nevada. Water was difficult to find, the food ran out, and the group became very hungry, tired, and discouraged. The two strongest men left to search for help. It took them twenty-six days to return! The families set out again and had to leave all of their belongings behind. Legend has it that as they were leaving, they all looked back at the desert and Mrs. Arcan spoke the words that made history: “Goodbye Death Valley”, thus giving Death Valley its name. Abigail’s Treasured Items When the Arcan family had to leave their camp in Death Valley, they were forced to leave nearly all of their belongings behind. Abigail refused to leave her fancy clothes and treasured things behind, so she put on her best clothes and tied extra ribbons on her hat. She even tied a tablecloth around her waist or shoulders, because it was a special family article. The real tablecloth is part of the collection at the Museum of Art & History. Arcan Family Life in Santa Cruz Abigail had been pregnant during the entire trip and gave birth to baby Julia on July 1st, 1850. Because of the lack of food and the tough conditions of traveling, Julia only lived for a couple of weeks. She is the youngest person buried at Evergreen Cemetery.
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William Blackburn Heading to California William Blackburn was born in 1814 in Virginia. In 1844, he worked in New Orleans before heading to California. He arrived in California in 1845 when California was still part of Mexico. Life as an Alcalde In Spanish, alcalde means judge. Because Santa Cruz was under Mexican rule this meant that it was also a Spanish speaking territory. In 1847 William Blackburn was appointed the second American Alcalde of Santa Cruz. A Hairy Situation One time, a young man wanted to make a whip, so he cut off the mane and tail of a horse. The problem was that it wasn’t his horse and the owner was very upset! Judge Blackburn had never heard of this happening before and had to decide a fair punishment. He decided that the young man be taken to the main square in Santa Cruz and have all his hair cut off. The young man had very long hair, so he probably wasn’t happy about losing it all. William Blackburn & The Gold Rush When gold was discovered, Blackburn went to the gold rush in search of gold. He found that it was very difficult for the miners to get supplies, so he returned to Santa Cruz and grew potatoes, sending them to the gold county area for miners to eat. That is how he made his money and also helped gold miners. The Blackburn House The original house that William Blackburn owned and lived in can still be seen today. It is known as the Blackburn House, located on Sycamore Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz.
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Mary Amney Case Mary Amney Case Mary was born in Vermont in 1800. In 1821, she married Benjamin Case and lived in Iowa. They became parents of nine children, of whom only two survived. She died in Santa Cruz, just three weeks before her 90th birthday. Heading to California In 1847, Mary Amney Case and her family traveled to California in covered wagons. During their trip, they met a group of Lakota native americans that surrounded their camp. The Lakota were upset because some of the men traveling with Mary had been shooting buffalos for fun and not for food or clothing. One member of the Lakota spoke English and told the men if they wanted to continue safely they would have to make a payment to the Lakota. The next day, the Lakota spread blankets out to collect food and supplies from the group and they were allowed to pass through Lakota territory safely. Life as a teacher Mary and her family lived by Neary Lagoon and she was the first public school teacher in Santa Cruz in the 1850s-1880s. When they arrived in California, there were no English speaking schools for children to attend, so Mary started a school in her home. She taught her children and 18-20 other students.
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Santa Cruz Chinatown
A Difficult Journey In the mid-1850s many Chinese started coming to the U.S. in search of jobs It took about 62 days on a ship to get from China to California. The ships were so crowded that the trip was unbearable and sometimes deadly.
Santa Cruz Chinatowns Most Chinese immigrated without their families and upon arriving they formed small communities that often spoke the same language. Today there are no Chinatowns left in Santa Cruz. They can be found in cities like San Jose, Watsonville, and Monterey for example. The last Chinatown completely washed away after the 1955 Christmas flood in Santa Cruz.
Forced to a new life Once in America, a lot of Chinese faced discrimination. Over time Italians too were arriving and soon after they overtook the fishing industry, pushing the Chinese to take other jobs. In wanting to continue to work, the Chinese took dangerous jobs no one wanted like building railroads and working at the powder mill with explosives. Other jobs Chinese immigrants took were farm laborers and servants.
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Santa Cruz Chinatown Chinese Burial Practices When a Chinese person passed away, the whole Chinatown community gathered to honor their death. With a Chinese musical band, the relatives and friends would march down the street, over Mission Hill, and to the Chinese section at Evergreen. The Chinese believed evil-spirits would follow them to the cemetery, so they would set off firecrackers and throw pieces of red paper to frighten them or confuse them. They would put red candles around the grave so the person would have light and leave food offerings for them to have in their afterlife. There is a ceremonial oven next to the monument where the belongings of the deceased were burned. This was so the deceased can use them in the spirit world. Chinese Burial Brick When someone in the Chinese community passed away, they were buried with a brick. This had the person’s name and their home town in China written on it. Several years later, some Chinese groups unburied the wooden coffins and sent them back to China. They need to be buried in their hometowns with their ancestors. This is why there is a monument instead of gravestones at Evergreen Cemetery. A 17-foot Chinese memorial gate was installed in 2014 at Evergreen Cemetery to honor all of Santa Cruz’s early Chinese immigrants.
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London Nelson Heading to California London was born enslaved in North Carolina. In 1840, he was taken to Tennessee by enslaver Mattew Nelson. In 1850 Matthew Nelson brought London to California in search of gold. Important things to note about London Nelson The Gold Rush led to his freedom. He had the opportunity to buy his freedom once he arrived in California. His real name is London Nelson, but everyone now believes it is Louden. All primary sources up until the 1930s correctly listed his first name as London. But after that, it mysteriously shifted to Louden. It is possible, the name mistake happened during the engraving of his tombstone or the person who gave the engraver the text for his marble headstone. In 2006 an extra placard was made with his real name: London London Nelson’s Job After coming to Santa Cruz, Nelson worked as a cobbler, fixing shoes. He also bought the land where he grew and sold fruits and vegetables to local stores. This land was located where the post office is now (near the corner of Front and River Streets), where he enjoyed hearing children at play at the school by his house.
What Nelson might have looked like, by Jack Sprow. There are no known photos of him.
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London Nelson Old Mission Hill Grammar School When Nelson was alive, there was only one school in Santa Cruz. One year, this school was shut down because there was not enough money. In this will, Nelson left $230 to the Santa Cruz School District so that students could continue their education Education London Nelson never learned to read or write. While in Santa Cruz, he lived by a school that was shut down because of a lack of money. Towards the end of his life, London Nelson fell very ill and friends helped him write a will. In this will, Nelson left $372 to the Santa Cruz School District so that students could continue their education.
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Continue the Learning The Museum of Art & History (MAH) thanks you for using our online resources to continue the learning from home or school. To dive deeper, we suggest you become familiar with Evergreen Cemetery. Take a self-guide online tour. We have other online resources related to Evergreen, like a video of the History of Evergreen Cemetery (1979-72 minutes YouTube video). Also, an exhibition called Guided by Ghosts and a book called Evergreen Cemetery of Santa Cruz (Arcadia History Press, May 2019) by Traci Bliss & Randall Brown. Want to visit the MAH for free? Send us a few pictures of some projects with a sentence explaining what they are to oscar@santacruzmah.org and we will send you a free family pass for your class or your student!
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