Elmwood Field Trip and Graveyard Girl, by Anna Myers

 

 

Fifty Memphis gentlemen committed $500 each to purchase land and establish a new cemetery 2.5 miles from town in 1852. Originally consisting of 40 acres, it was expanded after the Civil War to 80 acres.
In the 1870s the original corporation was dissolved and Elmwood became one of the oldest nonprofits in Tennessee. Since then, Elmwood Cemetery has become the final resting place to over 75,000 inhabitants including mayors, governors, madams, blues singers, suffragists, martyrs, generals, civil rights leaders, holy men and women, outlaws and millionaires.

Elmwood was established as part of the Rural Cemetery Movement which swept the nation in the early to mid 1800s. It is a classic example of a garden cemetery with its park-like setting, sweeping vistas, shady knolls, large stands of ancient trees, and magnificent monuments.
During the Victorian Era, the popular view of death became romanticized; death was now represented by symbols including angels, flowers, and plants. These ideas are reflected in the many magnificent monuments, mausoleums and life-sized figures.
Elmwood is the final resting place of those who created Memphis history and has emerged today as Memphis' finest and oldest active cemetery.
The grounds of Elmwood Cemetery were entered on the National Register of Historic Places as project number #02000233 on March 20, 2002.

 

From School Library Journal

In 1878, when a yellow-fever epidemic strikes Memphis, Eli Mahoney witnesses the death of his mother and younger sister and is deserted by his father. He is determined to flee the city, but his plans are interrupted by Grace, the "Graveyard Girl," and the recently orphaned Addie, who painfully reminds him of his little sister. Grace has taken over her sick father's responsibilities as sexton at Elmwood Cemetery, including ringing the bell for the dead. Her compassion and sense of duty help Eli to move beyond his own grief and assume responsibility for Addie. When Grace dies of the fever, Eli continues her work at the cemetery until the epidemic passes. Addie's grateful relatives come for her and offer the boy a chance to be a part of their family. This is a somber tale of resilient young people caught in deadly circumstances beyond their control. The relationships among the characters and their reactions to their individual problems are convincingly portrayed, especially in the case of Eli, as he struggles with his own bitterness, despair, and fear. A grim historical moment has been effectively used by the author to show the ability of the human spirit to endure, survive, and renew itself.