No Reservations Required.

Saturdays and Sundays - 6:30-7:30 p.m.
March 15 through October 19

(Twilight tour topics vary weekly. See twilight tour descriptions and schedule below.)

Twilight Tour Schedule

Sights, Symbols & Stories of Oakland - Discover the period gardens, history, customs, architecture, and art that give Oakland its distinctive character. Oakland is a museum of Atlanta’s history with over 70,000 stories to tell--stories filled with victories and tragedies, both beautiful and stunning.
Dates: 3/16, 3/23, 4/20, 4/27, 5/17, 5/18, 5/24, 6/15, 6/22, 7/20, 7/27, 8/17, 8/24, 8/31, 9/21, 9/28, 10/19

Oakland and the Civil War - Stand at the site where General Hood stood to watch the Battle of Atlanta hear the story of the Great Locomotive Chase and Andrew’s Raiders. See the Lion of Atlanta as it lies wounded and dying over unknown soldiers from nearby battlefields, and the Confederate Memorial, at one time the tallest structure in Atlanta. Learn of the achievements of famous military leaders and soldiers during and after the war. Meet the several residents Margaret Mitchell is believed to have used as a basis for characters in Gone With the Wind. Franklin Garrett, the official Atlanta historian, once said: "History has several components: the participants, the chroniclers, and the historians. All of these components reside at Oakland."

Dates: 4/12, 5/10, 6/14, 7/12, 8/9, 9/13, 10/11

Pioneers of Atlanta: The First 20 Years - Meet the founding fathers of a place known as “Terminus,” where several railroad lines came together, to the town of Marthasville chartered in 1843, to the establishment of Atlanta in 1847. Wander among the graves of the first farmers, first lawyers, early mayors, and town commissioners. Hear stories of early accomplishments and failures, civil strife, gunfights and interaction with other developing communities that made us a community of people, not just an economic center.

Dates: 3/22, 4/26, 5/24, 6/28, 7/26, 8/23, 9/27

Victorian Symbolism at Oakland - People of the Victorian period were fascinated by the past and borrowed symbols they learned from the archaeological digs taking place in Egypt, Greece, Israel, and Turkey. In many cases, the symbols were originally secular but were changed to religious, and could have a totally different meaning, one period to the other. Victorians believed that death was very peaceful and calming. The word “cemetery” means “sleeping place,” and many symbols reflect that concept. Our expert docents will acquaint you with the many botanical, secular, and religious symbols at Oakland and interpret their meaning.

Dates: 4/5, 5/3, 6/7, 7/5, 8/2, 9/6, 10/4

African American History at Oakland - Learn about the many interesting African Americans who helped shape the history of Atlanta including Atlanta's first Black mayor, Maynard Jackson; Bishop Wesley John Gaines, minister and founder of Morris Brown College; Carrie Steele Logan, who established the first black orphanage in Atlanta; Antoine Graves, pioneer real estate broker; and Selena Sloan Butler, founder of the first black parent-teacher association in the United States.

Dates: 6/29, 8/30

Dying in Nineteenth Century Atlanta - From the log cabin the Cherokee Indians called “medicine house,” through the establishment of Atlanta Medical College, to the medical advances resulting from the Civil War, this tour traces the history of death and disease in Atlanta in the 19th century. Atlanta in the early 1800s was considered the frontier. The rough and sometimes violent lifestyle, combined with the humid climate and swampy land, all contributed to illness, injury, and death among the population. Learn about the mystery and science of death and dying during a time when the discovery of germ theory and medical anesthesia coexisted with the use of leeches, water cures, and quack medicine.

Dates: 3/15, 4/19, 6/21, 7/19, 8/16, 9/20, 10/18

Jewish Grounds of Oakland - This tour examines the Jewish Grounds of Oakland Cemetery and identifies patterns of assimilation and persistence which began to surface as waves of Jewish immigrants entered and adapted to the culture of Victorian America. In 1860, Atlanta was home to about 50 Jewish citizens. The Hebrew Benevolent Society purchased a burial plot within the Original Six Acres, now known as the Old Jewish Grounds. It is the second oldest Jewish burial ground in Georgia. In 1892, the Hebrew Benevolent Society (The Temple) acquired yet another, much larger plot and sold one fourth of it to a newly formed synagogue, Ahavath Achim. Ahavath Achim, made up mainly of newly arrived immigrants from Russia, developed what is perhaps the most visually compelling area of Oakland, often described as "forest like" because of 7-foot markers tightly packed together. Our docents will share their knowledge of the Jewish community's history, notable citizens, burial customs and symbolism on these grounds.

Dates: 3/30

Margaret Mitchell and Gone With the Wind - Explaining how the idea for her novel came to her, Margaret Mitchell said,“in the cradle”. She had heard so much, as a child, about the battles and the hard times following the Civil War, she believed, for a long time, that her parents had actually been through it. The Pulitzer Prize winning novel was first published in 1936 and sold more than a million copies in the first six months. It is reputed to be the second most read book in the world, with the Bible being number one. This tour will visit the gravesites of Margaret Mitchell and her husband, John Marsh, as well as other Mitchell family members and pioneers of Atlanta. While none of the characters in the novel are specifically based on real life people, she scrambled appearances and personalities of some she knew and knew of, to weave a compelling saga of a world turned upside down.

Dates: 3/29, 5/31

The Women of Oakland - Early Atlanta was a man's world. The few women among them were wives of railroad workers and merchants, slaves, and others who possessed the essential skills needed in a growing frontier town: cooks, laundresses, seamstresses, and boardinghouse keepers. The advent of the Civil War and the reconstruction of Atlanta into a metropolitan center changed the fortunes of the city and dramatically altered the image and status of women. From the domain of domestic life to the province of public life, this tour challenges the myth of Southern womanhood by uncovering the true social and personal histories of Atlanta's pioneering women.

Dates: 4/6, 5/4, 6/1, 7/6, 8/3

Art and Architecture of Death - From ancient times, people have sought to honor and perpetuate the memory of departed loved ones. In the 19th century, the development of rural, non-sectarian cemeteries like Oakland provided a setting that allowed for a diverse array of funerary tributes. Memorials reflected social status, wealth, and power. In the nineteenth century an unprecedented variety of materials and architectural styles was available. Focusing on the artistic and architectural design elements of funerary monuments, this tour explores the origin and use of popular 19th century grave markers including tombs and sarcophagi, obelisks and angels, monuments of all styles, shapes, and sizes and Oakland's magnificent mausoleums. As a microcosm of society, Oakland Cemetery reflects how the people of Atlanta lived and died. Architectural and design choices that Atlanta's citizens made during their lives followed them to the cemetery in the art and architecture that commemorates their deaths.

Dates: 4/13, 5/11, 6/8, 7/13, 8/10, 9/14, 10/12

The Margaret Mitchell, African American Grounds and Jewish Grounds tours are available for groups of five or more upon special request. Please contact Mary Woodlan at 404.688.2107 ext.11 for more information.