River Ridge Students Visit Cemetery For History Lesson

Submitted by Leslie O’Bryant, media specialist at River Ridge High School

This March, River Ridge High School Journalism and English teacher Reed Christian took her journalism and ninth grade English students to the Historic Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta to search for stories.

Throughout the year, they had learned plenty of stories — from their own community, from other cultures, from other eras. Also, if they were paying attention, they learned how to capture a story, how to tell one and how to analyze one.

Oakland Cemetery is divided into sections, which apply directly to the literature read by the freshman classes. During this unusual field trip, students witnessed the disparities between and separation of blacks and whites — even in death — spanning the antebellum and post-Civil War periods and modern Atlanta history.

They also learned about the key figures who helped shape the history of Atlanta and the Americna South, including former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson, Carrie Steele Logan (founder of the Carrie Steele Orphan Home) and Selena Sloan Butler (founder of the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers, which later merged with the National PTA).

This section of history tied directly in with the novel, “Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad,” which they read in the fall. The students were able to witness first-hand the social and religious beliefs and customs, along with the symbolism and differences of the Jewish culture which they had learned by reading “Night.”

Additionally, they followed the love stories highlighted within Oakland through symbols and epitaphs, as well as the art and architecture of the magnificent mausoleums and monuments of all styles, shapes, and sizes dating from the 19th century just like the ones found in “Romeo and Juliet.”

What better place to find literature tie-ins, and learn the why of telling the truth in stories, than this most special place of Atlanta’s memories?

In addition to Former Mayor Jackson, Oakland is the final resting place of Margaret Mitchell, golfing great Bobby Jones and many Confederate soldiers who gave their lives in the battle of Atlanta. So many stories — all unique and important — whether they were “bigger than life” or significant to a few listeners.

Each one was a voice reaching out from the past. Students left school, looking forward to a carefree, “out of the norm” day and returned with a new sense of why it is important to share one another’s truths.

At the end of the tour, Christian and her students read from ”Ender’s Game,” another novel they had studied, which summarized their trip: “They began to live by it as best they could, and when their loved ones died, a believer would arise beside the grave to be a Speaker for the Dead, and say what the dead one would have said, but with full candor, hiding no faults and pretending no virtues. Those who came to such services sometimes found them painful and disturbing, but there were many who decided that their life was worthwhile enough, despite their errors, that when they died a Speaker should tell the truth for them.”

Although it was an unusual field trip, the literature and historical value offered the students an interesting and thought-provoking new take on old books and stories.

Photo 1: Ms. Christian reads aloud from “Ender’s Game.”
Photo 2: Solider graves in a section of Oakland Cemetery.
Photo 3: Ms. Christian’s journalism and 9th grade literature classes toured Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, connecting literature and history.
Photo 4: Margaret Mitchell, author of “Gone with the Wind,” is one of the notable Atlantans buried in Oakland Cemetery.
Credits: Cherokee County School District