- Top Five Stars of Hollywood Cemetery
Fayeruz Regan - Aug 23, 2013
Whenever
Hollywood Cemetery comes up in conversation, people always marvel at how
beautiful it is. And for good reason. With gothic tombs dotting the rolling
hills that overlook the James River, it’s the most beautiful cemetery I have
ever seen.
As a VCU student, I was brought there by a native Richmonder who insisted I see it. I caught several classmates there over the years, wrapped in black gauzy dresses and draping themselves across graves, trying to look artfully depressed for their Photography 101 classes. Or their goth friends.
As a VCU student, I was brought there by a native Richmonder who insisted I see it. I caught several classmates there over the years, wrapped in black gauzy dresses and draping themselves across graves, trying to look artfully depressed for their Photography 101 classes. Or their goth friends.
Hollywood
Cemetery was named after the holly trees that grew around it, and years before
the Los Angeles neighborhood adopted that name. But there certainly are stars
buried here.
Below, I have hand-picked my favorite residents at the Hollywood Cemetery for what they’ve contributed to our culture and civil liberties.
1. Edna Henry Lee Turpin – Poison apples and glass slippers
What would a childhood be without the stories of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White and Hansel and Gretel? We have Ms. Turpin to thank for selecting certain stories from Grimm’s Fairy Tales, translating them to English and editing these stories for primary readers.
2. James Monroe – Supporter of Latinos
We have two presidents buried at Hollywood Cemetery, but James Monroe is a resident of note. As a young soldier, he fought off the British during the Revolutionary War. He was also one of our founding fathers. When a newly de-colonized Latin America declared independence from Spain & Portugal, James Monroe was the first world leader to extend recognition and support to their cause of “liberty & humanity.” This sweeping gesture of modernity was legally solidified in The Monroe Doctrine.
3. Mary Wingfield Scott – A neighborhood hero
Richmonders may not have been able to brag about the revitalization of Church Hill, because it almost got demolished. Preservationist Mary Wingfield Scott was instrumental in saving this neighborhood, as well as Oregon Hill and Linden Row. Thankfully, Richmond is known for its historic beauty, not an excess of Wal-Marts and giant parking lots.
4. Thomas Yeates – A comical man
Yeates was the illustrator of iconic comic book and comic strip characters, such as Conan, Zorro, Prince Valiant and Tarzan. He even adapted a comic book story to be turned into the famous 3D film Captain EO, starring Michael Jackson. Anyone who has been to Disneyland in the last 30 years has seen this epic short, and they have Yeates to thank for it.
5. Mary Cooke Branch Munford – A champion of important causes
Born into one of the richest families in Virginia, she eschewed the constraints of her pedigree and threw herself into “unfeminine” pursuits, such as women’s suffrage, education reform and civil rights. She was the first woman to serve on Richmond’s school board, the National Urban League and was a founding member of the Virginia Inter-Racial League. Her efforts were so vast, that nearly every sector of society has been benefitted.
I’d like to give honorable mention to the boon of Civil War historical figures that were laid to rest in the Hollywood cemetery, such as Jefferson Davis, JEB Stuart and 25 Confederate generals.
__________________Below, I have hand-picked my favorite residents at the Hollywood Cemetery for what they’ve contributed to our culture and civil liberties.
1. Edna Henry Lee Turpin – Poison apples and glass slippers
What would a childhood be without the stories of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White and Hansel and Gretel? We have Ms. Turpin to thank for selecting certain stories from Grimm’s Fairy Tales, translating them to English and editing these stories for primary readers.
2. James Monroe – Supporter of Latinos
We have two presidents buried at Hollywood Cemetery, but James Monroe is a resident of note. As a young soldier, he fought off the British during the Revolutionary War. He was also one of our founding fathers. When a newly de-colonized Latin America declared independence from Spain & Portugal, James Monroe was the first world leader to extend recognition and support to their cause of “liberty & humanity.” This sweeping gesture of modernity was legally solidified in The Monroe Doctrine.
3. Mary Wingfield Scott – A neighborhood hero
Richmonders may not have been able to brag about the revitalization of Church Hill, because it almost got demolished. Preservationist Mary Wingfield Scott was instrumental in saving this neighborhood, as well as Oregon Hill and Linden Row. Thankfully, Richmond is known for its historic beauty, not an excess of Wal-Marts and giant parking lots.
4. Thomas Yeates – A comical man
Yeates was the illustrator of iconic comic book and comic strip characters, such as Conan, Zorro, Prince Valiant and Tarzan. He even adapted a comic book story to be turned into the famous 3D film Captain EO, starring Michael Jackson. Anyone who has been to Disneyland in the last 30 years has seen this epic short, and they have Yeates to thank for it.
5. Mary Cooke Branch Munford – A champion of important causes
Born into one of the richest families in Virginia, she eschewed the constraints of her pedigree and threw herself into “unfeminine” pursuits, such as women’s suffrage, education reform and civil rights. She was the first woman to serve on Richmond’s school board, the National Urban League and was a founding member of the Virginia Inter-Racial League. Her efforts were so vast, that nearly every sector of society has been benefitted.
I’d like to give honorable mention to the boon of Civil War historical figures that were laid to rest in the Hollywood cemetery, such as Jefferson Davis, JEB Stuart and 25 Confederate generals.
^ Grave of Zephaniah G. Lamkin
President Jefferson Davis
- I rather liked his hat -
on the Davis Circle
#
^ Grave of Winnie Davis
Palmer Chapel mausoleum
added to the cemetery in 1992,
looking out onto the mighty James.
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