Christine Huck, philosophy major who coordinating our visit to Spring Grove, sent this for us. She thinks our tour guide told us about this young woman:
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2014/11/15/mary-janes-journal-chronicles-citys-early-history/19120447/
What did you learn? What was unexpected? Most interesting? Why?
Post pictures if you have some to share.
I loved the trip to the cemetery! I was able to see various types of graves, like the obelisks, sarcophagi, mausoleums, crypts, statues, and grave markers. The most interesting grave was the man who had his own little island. There was a little piece of land surrounded by a body of water and you could get to the island by two little stone bridges. He was the only person buried on the island and the only indication of him being there was a piece of artwork that was made for him that he had put there to mark his grave.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite thing about the trip was hearing the stories of the people and the history of the cemetery. It was very interesting to hear who was buried there and why they chose to be buried at that location or what caused the death of a particular person, the impact they hand on life, and why they chose to be buried the way they were.
Perhaps my favorite thing about the cemetery was just the overall beauty of the setting. The cemetery was very beautiful. There were so many varieties of trees, and the leaves had changed all different colors and some had fallen to the ground. In addition, there were fountains and statues and the graves themselves were their own works of art that added to the beauty of the landscape.
My overall favorite thing to learn was the meaning behind symbols. For example, the Victorian period was big on drapes to show death had occurred. Also, that wreaths represented a victory over death, and that ferns were a sign of humility. That there were usually no men statues on graves because it was viewed that women were the best at conveying sadness and mourning. Another thing was all the symbolisms on the mausoleums. The prickly vines that represented suffering, the period after the name of a family was symbolic of the end to that line of the family, and the three steps represented the holy trinity.
I really enjoyed the trip to the cemetery and am very glad I went. I learned very interesting things and it was nice o have class outside and enjoy the weather and fall scenery.
I loved our field trip to Spring Grove Cemetery. I loved being able to be outdoors and walking around while learning lots of new and fascinating information, instead of sitting down in a classroom for 2 hours and 35 minutes and listen to discussions. My favorite grave had to be Judge Jacob Burnet's. Burnet's mausoleum was built of Italian marble, which followed the design of French Second Empire style. The reason why I found this particular grave so interesting is because apparently there used to be three steps leading up to the doors of Burnet's grave but, now there is only one because the other two have sunk into the ground. Another thing that I loved about Spring Grove Cemetery was the scenery. The thing that made the scenery so pretty was all of the graves with their own unique looks, as well as the fountains, bridges, statues, and trees that surrounding the area as well. In fact, according to our tour guide and to Spring Grove's website their are over 1,200 different species of trees, shrubs, and perennials located there. A third thing that I found very fascinating while there, was the clock that was on the first building we looked at. The reason why I found this clock so fascinating was because it didn't have any hands on it and the reason for that was because when dead there is no more time. Overall, I loved our class trip to Spring Grove Cemetery and would definitely recommend others to go there, so that they could take in the scenery for themselves as well as all of the information that goes along with it too.
ReplyDeleteRachel,
DeleteI also found it very interesting that the clock did not have any hands. I thought it was quite ingenious to leave off the hands of the clock to represent the eternity of time and that time does not matter when a person is dead. I think it is interesting you picked this particular aspect as one of your favorite things about the scenery of the cemetery, because it was such a small detail to remember and also the first thing we saw in the tour and so was easy to forget about. However, I think it is a significant feature of the cemetery and I totally agree that it was very interesting.
Tonya,
DeleteI like how you think that the clock with no hands was interesting as well and I also like how you said that it has significance to the cemetery because I totally agree with you on that statement. Also, I know the clock with no hands was so easy to forget since it was the first thing we saw on our tour but, I have a really good memory especially for things that I find quite fascinating. The reason why I really remembered the clock is because I think that even in real life we should view time as eternity because time is just a number and we shouldn't have to worry about what time it is every single second of the day, cause it sometimes just seems to stress one out.
The cemetery was very interesting i loved learning about all the history that was placed in Cincinnati since i have lived here my entire life. The landscape of the cemetery was beautiful with the amazing trees and small ponds. With the additive of the decretive grave stones that were placed all over the entire cemetery. Everywhere you looked there was a different gave stone that has so much symbolism to the people buried underneath or to their families. It was fascinating to see the norms of what people worshiped and their funeral practices in the past and compare them to the future. Over all i enjoy the cemetery and was glad i got to experience it will my peers!
ReplyDeleteEmily,
DeleteI think it is interesting that you liked the variety of the graves. I think it shows great observation and respect on your part. In the classroom we often discuss how we need to understand and respect the cultures and beliefs of other people. I think that this trip to the cemetery allowed us to physically see so much diversity in cultural burial beliefs and because of the discussions in class we were able to appreciate the diversity and take something away from it.
Before going to Spring Grove Cemetery I have only heard about it. I didn't even know what an arboretum was to be completely honest. I heard how pretty it was and that people get pictures taken there and all I'm thinking is why on earth would someone want pictures taken in the cemetery!!? Pulling into the cemetery I have never seen so many trees, and different landscapes. It was beautiful! I loved being there. It did not even feel like a cemetery! I am not much of a history person so the tour did not interest me as much as other people, I was more interested in the atmosphere and the nature. I loved seeing all the flowers, the fountains and all the terrain was perfect. I also did enjoy the architecture of the graves and buildings and the sphinx was really cool! I also thought it was amazing that it felt like we walked forever but really we only walked a very small portion of the cemetery and it was insane how big and how many acres Spring Grove owned. I recommend visiting it if you have never been or did not go on the tour.
ReplyDeleteEmily,
DeleteI too thought the arboretum was a very unique aspect of the cemetery. I had never visited an arboretum before, and was very taken aback by the beauty of the nature. The leaves changing colors on the trees were absolutely gorgeous, and I found all the various types of trees fascinating. In particular, I thought the tress whose roots were sticking straight up was very cool. I had never seen anything like that before and was just so interested in the trees and their roots. I did not know tree rots could grow like that ad seeing that made me like the arboretum even more. I think it is wonderful to have an arboretum incorporated into the cemetery because it balances out the death. By this I mean that or most people, death is an ugly things and people have a hard time finding beauty in death. However, after death is supposed to be a beautiful and peaceful thing and I think having an arboretum in a cemetery creates a beautiful, peaceful atmosphere that often gets unnoticed at death.
Tonya,
DeleteI really like your response to mine. I love how you say that to most people death is an ugly thing and people have a hard time finding beauty in death. I never thought of it that way and it is unfortunately true that people consider death a bad thing and an ugly thing. Having an arboretum in the cemetery truly does make it more beautiful. Also during the tour it didn't even feel like we were touring a cemetery because of the beauty of it and that having the atmosphere in a cemetery is incredible and beautiful.
Emily, I completely agree with everything you said. I enjoyed touring through Spring Grove every much. I think you made a good point when you said why on earth would we want to walk through a cemetery. I remember telling my mom that we were going on a field trip to a cemetery and she gave me an odd look. I would have never thought that walking through a cemetery could be so fun and enjoyable. Spring Grove was huge and timing of our visit couldn't have been more perfect with the changing of the leaves.
DeleteI had never even really heard of Spring Grove Cemetery before this class. I expected a typical cemetery that had really beautiful trees and such, but was really surprised when we actually got there and toured it. The way that a lot of the tombstones were smaller and in the ground and there was one larger monument in the center looked really nice and made it look so much cluttered. It was also really interesting to hear the different stories of people who were buried there. I especially liked the story about the woman who used her money to buy slaves and set them free in the north and educated them. I feel like the whole point of cemeteries is so that the memory of the dead person lives on, whether in the family and friends they leave behind or in the stories of their life. Hearing about some of the people who are buried there was nice because usually if people visit a cemetery they visit their own relatives and know nothing about anyone else. I thought the tour guide was pretty good about telling us lots of stories about people in the cemetery and also giving us some general history about the cemetery. She seemed very enthusiastic which is always a good quality in a tour guide.
ReplyDeleteI thought that aside from all the beautiful statues and monuments and graves, the trees were beyond beautiful. It was so nice to be able to visit in the Fall because all of the leaves were so pretty and the colors were gorgeous. I can definitely see now why so many people want to get wedding/engagement/senior pictures done there, it is a beautiful location!
Overall I really enjoyed the visit to Spring Grove. It was a really uniquely beautiful experience and I highly recommend it to anyone who wasn't able to visit on Wednesday! If nothing else, it is just a really quiet, relaxing place to get more in touch with nature.
Kristin,
DeleteI also like you feel like the whole point of cemeteries is so that the memory of the dead person lives on, whether in the family and friends they leave behind or in the stories of their life. Also, I like how you pointed out that Spring Grove had a nice organization of presenting itself and that it didn't seem to be as clustered as you thought it would have been. Overall, yes this is a very beautiful place and is filled with a lot of neat facts about people you may not have known about.
I was going to write a whole big post about the cemetery but it seems that I would just be repeating almost exactly what Kristin and the others have said. It was beautiful and there was a strange sense of calmness throughout the whole place (at least the portions we walked through).
DeleteI learned something very interesting about myself as we walked through the cemetery. I learned that I do not want to be remembered as so many others want to be. As we were walking, we heard story after story about the different opulent mausoleums and giant obelisks. The buildings were beautiful and the statues were great, but it all seemed like a huge waste to me. Why are people so caught up with have a fancy grave? I mean, I understand why but it still doesn't make sense to me. Why do people feel a need to slap their name on a giant tomb? Is it to be remembered? Is it to keep their legacy living on in the minds of all who see it? I don't know if I will ever truly come to understand this really. How about instead of wasting the money on a place to mark where your body is you help save thousands by using it to build wells in Africa? Or use it provide educations to those who cannot afford one? Why waste money on useless opulence when there is so much good that can be done with it?!
I enjoyed going to visit Spring Grove. I was unaware of the historical element in Spring Grove. I thought it was neat who all the soldiers were buried on the three mounds and a general or commander was buried at the top of the mound with the black pole on top. I was particularly impressed on how knowledgeable our tour guide was. She was very informative and I like how she customized the tour for our group. I would definitely go back to Spring Grove to just walk through the cemetery and enjoy the beauty of the land.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteLauren, I am will you to go back and explore other parts of the cemetery that we did not get to see! If all that our class saw was just in that small part of the cemetery i can only image what else could be stumbled upon exploring a new section of the land we could discover even more historical elements!
DeleteLauren,
ReplyDeleteI also thought the soldiers that were buried on the three mounds and the general or commander that was buried at the top of the mound with the black pole on top was very interesting to listen to. After hearing our tour guide talk about that part of the cemetery and how on Memorial day it's filled with flags has made me want to go back one memorial day and to see what it looks like for myself. I also would agree with you that our tour guide was very knowledgeable on the information about Spring Grove and the people buried there. I don't think I could do that. Overall, Spring Grove was a very beautiful cemetery and I would definitely go back as well.
I've been to Spring Grove Cemetery before and I absolutely love how beautiful it is. The tour was something completely new to me though and I really did enjoy it. Usually you don't know the many historical things that are in a cemetery. It was nice to learn about the soldiers that were buried there and how they were buried according to rank. It was also neat learning about all of the different monuments that people had for graves and the symbolism behind them all. Overall I think we had a great tour guide who was very knowledgeable and made sure to hit every point that she wanted to talk about that way we had a good experience.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Chelsey, our tour guide was awesome she made for an good trip to the cemetery great! I agree with you on the historical symbolism of the soldiers buried according to rank it was very humbling to see that their service to our country is still being appreciated!
DeleteSpring Grove Cemetery was a pretty good experience as far as cemeteries go (granted I've only been to a couple of cemeteries). I thought the layout was pretty open and refreshing. Had some odd little quirks that made it unique. Overall experience: Good.
ReplyDeleteI'm not from around here, so I actually had never heard of Spring Grove Cemetery. I was definitely surprised at how large it was, even the little section we toured. The landscape is beautiful, and it seemed like the staff took pride in making sure it was always kept up with in some aspect. I didn't expect as many famous people to be buried there as we saw, so that was something fun to observe. One thing that sticks out in my mind about the cemetery was the clock with no hands. I liked what it represented, and I think it fits perfectly in a cemetery. I would like to go back at some point and see some more of the place.
ReplyDeleteAubrey, I agree I have lived in cincinnati my entire life and was unaware of the type of people buried at spring grove. All of these famous families and famous military men. I agree the clock with no hands was neat! It is need that it represents no time being kept since the cemetery is for the dead. I think the trip was very significant for our class!
DeleteAubrey, I am also not from the area, so Spring Grove was a new adventure for me too. I thought the cemetery was breathtaking. It was an awesome display of how God’s handiwork and that of humans can come together to make a really cool place. I wanted to look more into the clock with no hands, because I didn't remember that part of the tour - I must have been distracted looking at something else. So, I found a comment on a page called Cincinnati Oddities that says “According to our tour guide, this clock never had any hands, “Because time has no meaning in a cemetery.”” (http://oddcincy.wordpress.com/2009/08/11/a-brick-and-mortar-death-clock/)
DeleteThe comment definitely matches up with what Emily said and it’s a very neat concept. Once our humans lives are over, time is no longer something we have to think or worry about.
P.S. The comment went on to say something that I thought was funny, so I want to share: “I wonder if the clock in a post office waiting room should be the same way.”