Summary

Title

Breathing New Life into Cities of the Dead

Primary Subject Area(s)

Social Studies – Louisiana History

Historic Structures, Cultural Landscapes

Grade Level(s)

7^th or 8th grades

Overview

Cemeteries are universal in all settlements and are excellent historic sites that can be used to study culture, explore the physical and economic growth of a city, and aid in the study of architectural styles. New Orleans has more than forty cemeteries within the reach of the immediate urban and suburban areas. An exploration of more than one cemetery will allow the students to compare and contrast many elements of culture.

Besides helping students learn more about their heritage, the lesson will employ map reading abilities and utilize critical thinking skills in determining economic, political and social factors that caused such diversity in the location and make-up of the various cemeteries of the area. Cemeteries not only bring the past to the present but also connect students with a new way to study many disciplines. This lesson uses “place” as the focal point of discovery, with the “people” aspect only secondary. In exploring this type of institution, various higher learning skills can be accessed as students “read” the history provided by burial customs, geographic factors and unique cultural elements.

Approximate Duration

6 class periods initially, one field trip day and 2 class periods to prepare final project (If no field trip is possible, then the initial 6 days will be sufficient.)

Louisiana Framework

Problem Solving
Resource Access and Utilization
Citizenship

Foundation Skills

Geography: Physical and Cultural Systems: Places and Regions
Civics: Citizenship and Government: Roles of the Citizen
History: Historical Thinking: Louisiana History

Strands and Content Standards

Benchmarks

Social Studies

G-1B-M1, G-1B-M2, G-1B-M4, G-1C-M2, G-1C-M5
C-1D-M4
H-1A-M1, h-1A-M4, H-1A-M6
H-1D-M5, H-1D-M6

ELA/Technology Strategies

ELA-5-M2, ELA-5-M3, ELA-5-M4

Interdisciplinary Connections

History
Sociology
Geography
Reference Skills
Computer Skills
Architecture
Language Arts
Civics

Materials

Computer with Internet if possible. (books on the topic will serve as an alternative maps of the city)
Hand-out exercises
Books (some suggested volumes are listed in the bibliography)
Cameras
Blank CDs
Videos on St. Louis #1 and on Metairie Cemetery

Technology Connection

Hardware

Computer with Internet capabilities
Scanner
CD Burner
Digital camera

Technology Guidelines

A template will be provided to help students organize their power point presentation. The key elements will be listed but students are free to enhance their presentation as they see fit. Through this project, students will learn to scan photographs and data and, when their work is completed, they will be instructed on creating a CD containing their presentations.

Background Information

One needs only to see the tour buses lined up in front of many of the city’s cemeteries to understand that this is a unique phenomenon that is worth exploring. Because of the Mediterranean heritage of our area, above the ground burials are common both by tradition and because of a high water table problem.

The cemeteries of our city can be used as a measuring stick for the development of its culture and its physical growth. Initially, as New Orleans was predominately French Catholic, the cemeteries features similar tombs. As the city grew with an influx of Americans and other ethnic groups after the Louisiana Purchase, the character and the architecture of the cemeteries altered to accommodate new trends. Burials were always on the outskirts of the settled areas; therefore, locating the various cemeteries offers a study in the physical growth patterns of the city.

A comparison of St. Louis # 1 (1789) our oldest remaining place of burial with the relatively new Metairie Cemetery (1872), will afford students the opportunity to see a differences in ethnic diversity, technology available for stone carving and building styles, and give them a grasp of the demographic movements within this period of time.