Stonewall Jackson Cemetery -- William Zhou

Prior to the field trip today, my only experience with the Stonewall Jackson Cemetery was through ghost tour, and the cemetery was completely different at night. Therefore, when I walked into the cemetery this morning, I was pleasantly surprised that everything looks so calm and peaceful. Branches filled with blooms having over tomb stones, daisy scattered between graves and many other signs of Spring bring a sense of liveliness to the cemetery. Other than signs from the nature, signs of human activities such as the confederate flag and the bouquet laying in front of the graves also help to bring liveliness to the cemetery.

                                                                     

 

 The layout of a cemetery is extremely important in many different cultures. The cardinal direction of the cemetery, the center of the cemetery and the overall flow all suppose to have significant meanings that either relate to the religious significance of the cemetery or the historic event behind the people who are buried in the cemetery. The Stonewall Jackson statue stands in the center of the cemetery and faces the south for obvious reason. But the direction he is facing is different from the cardinal direction of the cemetery, therefore the statue of Stonewall Jackson is actually against the major flow within the cemetery. And this phenomenon raises a very interesting conflict of whether the cemetery is built to commemorate Stonewall Jackson, or does the cemetery have other significant meanings and the statue was added the the cemetery after the cemetery has already developed to a certain size.