US History Students Learn In The Cemetery

Our US History students make the short trek to the cemetery in neighboring Joetown every year. This helps them understand that history is more than what you see in books, documents, and papers. Cemeteries are places where the stones help tell the stories of those who once lived in the area. The stones themselves are a story as the earliest limestone markers make way for those made of granite and marble.

The students were to think about the different types of stones and to look for different types of symbols on the stones, (everything from a cross, to flowers, trees, Masonic symbols, morel mushrooms, tractors, and even a Hawkeye image). They were to see if they could find the grave of a child or infant, veterans from different wars, stones with a language other than English, as well as trying to decipher some of the older stones. 

It’s convenient that the Pleasant Hill Cemetery is close enough that the students can walk. It’s also nice to spend class time outdoors on one of the last nice days of the fall.