Oakland Cemetery to Come to Life During All Saints Sunday Tour
Saturday, October 25, 2008 by Marilyn S. Joiner
Historic Oakland Cemetery, Shreveport’s oldest landmark, will come alive on All Saints Sun day as the Oakland Cemetery Preservation Society (OCPS) offers a special tour with costumed volunteers. The event will take place Sunday, Nov. 2, from 1 to 4 p.m. The cemetery, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is Shreveport’s oldest and most historic cemetery, the resting place of some of the city’s earliest citizens. Some of these citizens will “come to life” for the event as they talk about their lives in Shreveport. Hines Vaughan, president of the society, and board members will also be on hand to talk about the group’s restoration and preservation commitment to the cemetery.
The suggested donation is $10 for adults and $1 for children, with proceeds benefitting the society’s preservation efforts. The cemetery entrance is located on Milam Street at the intersection of Elvis Presley Boulevard by the Municipal Auditorium. Parking is available in the parking lot to the east of the cemetery.
“This is a wonderful way for people to relate to the history of Shreveport,” said Dr. Gary Joiner, board member of OCPS, who has organized the tour with his wife, Marilyn, also a board member. Joiner, who has been mapping and researching the cemetery with history and geography students at LSU in Shreveport, terms Oakland “a history laboratory.” “We still have much to learn about Shreveport’s history,” he added.
Dr. Joiner has arranged for LSUS students and community volunteers to offer the historical portrayals. Dr. ElizaBeth Guin, history professor at Northwestern State University, will demonstrate monument preservation techniques.
Residents who will stand by their graves and the people portraying them are:
- Amanda Arnett Clark, 19th century Shreveport humanitarian, African-American, Dana Fergins, LSUS alumna
- Dr. Dickinson Smith, son of Amanda Clark, first African-American member of local medical society, John McClain, LSUS student
- Col. Leon Dawson Marks, Attorney, Newspaper Publisher, Confederate officer, 27th Louisiana, David Hill, community volunteer and living historian, Richard Taylor Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans
- Mary Bennett Cane, “mother” of Shreveport and “grandmother” of Bossier City, Leigh Tomb Messenger, LSUS student, president of the university’s History Club
- Annie McCune, Shreveport Madam, Cassie Barrois, LSUS student
- Lt. Eugene Augustus Woodruff, U.S. Army officer, hero of 1873 yellow fever epidemic, Kevin Adkins, community volunteer and living historian, Richard Taylor Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans
- Simon Levy Jr., banker, businessman, vice-president of Kansas City Southern Railroad, Confederate officer, Scott Summers, community volunteer and living historian, Richard Taylor Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans
- Lawrence Pike Crain, Attorney, Mayor of Shreveport, Eric Hammons, LSUS student
- John Morgan Landrum, early mayor of Shreveport, U.S. congressman, Earl Moses, LSUS student
- Dr. Joseph Hotchkiss, Confederate captain and engineer on Kirby Smith’s staff, John McGibboney, community volunteer and living historian, Richard Taylor Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans
- Rufus Sewall, Brother of first mayor of Shreveport, Marty Loschen, LSUS student
- Nathan Goldkind, merchant who met an untimely death, Marty Young, director of Pioneer Heritage Center Director at LSUS, alumnus of LSUS
- Amazon A. Cole Jacobs, wife of Benjamin Jacobs, prominent merchant and banker, Jessica Sims, LSUS student
- Yellow Fever Victims, Kendra Cherie Gray, Margaret Chini and Patti Underwood, LSUS students; Susan Reeks, LSUS alumna; Joshua Nabors, Caddo Middle Magnet student; Nicholas Nabors, South Highlands Elementary School student.
In the event of rain, the tour will be postponed to a later date.
Those who cannot attend but wish to support the preservation of Oakland may make a contribution by logging on to the Web site www.oaklandcemeteryla.org or by sending a check to OCPS, P. O. Box 5221, Shreveport, LA 71135-5221.
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