Although fraternal organizations in the United States date back to the colonial period, the growth of these organizations increased drastically after the Civil War. By the end of the 19th century, there were hundreds of fraternal organizations with an estimated…
On a proverbial “dark and stormy night,” I was watching the SEC Championship basketball tournament when tornado warnings began to stream across the bottom of the screen. Simultaneously, play was stopped on the court at the Georgia Dome as players,…
One of the best parts of research is the thrill of finding something completely new. In the past, this usually meant finding a document or image at a library or an archival repository, but now it often means finding a…
From Oakland’s earliest decades, families have desired to enclose their loved ones’ last resting place as their financial means would allow. For some that meant wood, for others granite and iron were within reach. For less affluent families a row…
So often we receive calls from visitors and volunteers who want an ID for the “flowering tree” located outside the Bell Tower, as well as many other curious blooms found throughout our grounds. Besides daffodils, here's a brief rundown of…
Henry Patillo Farrow was born in Laurens, S.C., on Jan. 24, 1834 to lawyer Pattillo Farrow and Jane Strother James. He received his early education in Laurens and went to college at the University of Virginia, where he fought with…
This month the Love Stories of Oakland program returns to share stories of love – romantic, platonic, temporary, and eternal – found at Oakland Cemetery. A cemetery may seem like a strange place to learn about love, but of the…
After many months of hard work, the Preservation, Restoration, and Operations (PRO) Team has completed Phase 1 of hardscape restoration in the African American Grounds. Phase 1 encompasses the southernmost portion of the section, roughly one acre of land. The…
As part of the Historic Oakland Foundation Master Plan historical research, historic landscape images of the cemetery were compiled. In the Foundation’s reference materials is a photocopy of an mid-1870's stereoview of a cemetery purported to be Oakland. The image…
In January the Preservation, Restoration, and Operations (PRO) Team completed the first wave of 2018’s critical restoration. Critical restoration’s goal is to identify fragile, dangerous, or visually intrusive monuments and walls and mitigate the problem before they cause harm or…