From the 14th Floor: A Tour of Congressional Cemetery, Saturday, September 26, 2020

9/11 Memorial Path

After our purchase of a plot at Historic Congressional Cemetery (HCC), we wanted to take one of the Saturday morning walking tours. HCC has many volunteers working in various capacities, including docents who lead tours. Currently they are also being offered on-line so if you can't get to the cemetery, you can still observe.

We picked the Saturday before George's birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GEORGE! I know - a strange way to celebrate a birth but, come on!, it all part of life's cycle. Turned out this was a very busy day at HCC: two services, baby goat yoga, meditation class, and our tour.

Registration table for yoga. Sign reminds everyone to wear a mask.

Once registered, you just followed the signs.

I didn't get any photos of the yoga class because the cemetery is huge and we never got near them.

At the end of the tour, we did see the truck taking the goats home.

Since we're both history nuts, we loved hearing about some of the many interesting "residents" of the cemetery.

His tombstone, front and back, tell you a lot about his life and many accomplishments.

He loved Africa which explains the center image. The ones in the corners represent key elements of his life: upper right - Rhodes Scholar; lower right - his fraternity at Howard University; lower-left - gay symbol (he didn't come out until after he retired because he would have been fired from the Howard faculty); and the upper-left - represents the Baha'i faith which he joined but kept secret. In public he supported Christianity.

Through out the cemetery you see stones or other mementoes left on tombstones as a sign of remembrance.

Mathew Brady is a famous photographer who gained fame for his images of the Civil War. Photographers still visit his grave site and leave tokens of remembrance. Most are tiny cameras or a film canister. Have no idea what the yellow ducky is for.

This monument is in memory of the dozens of young women who died in DC during the Civil War when the munitions factory where they were working exploded.

Thomas Lantos is the only Holocaust survivor to have served in Congress.

This is the family plot for the Sousa's, including the most famous member of the family, John Philip. He grew up just two blocks from the cemetery and once a year the Marine Band marches over from the Marine Barracks on Capitol Hill and perform a concert at the grave site.

He wrote many of his most famous marches while leader of the band.

This totem is a gift from the Lakota Tribes. It was originally meant to go to the Pentagon but after 9/11 and the installation of the 9/11 Memorial on the grounds of the Pentagon there was no place to put it. It was loaned to the cemetery as a temporary holding place until a permanent location could be found. Everyone loved it in the location at the cemetery, especially since it goes over the 9/11 Memorial Walk. It will remain.

Close up from the totem

As we walked around, we passed the burialsite for the victims of the 1918-1920 pandemic. It's hard to see in the photo but there are dozens of small stones marking the burial of the children who were victims.

I love the creativity shown in some recent installations. The large sculpture is still under construction so there is no way to know who is or will be buried there. Yes, some people put up their stones before they die.

Here's an example of another installation but the owners are still alive and well. I know I'll be happy to be near them eventually because they are fellow cat lovers.

This bench was installed by 2 guys who wanted to honor their 2 cats. Below is the image of the top of the bench with images of the cats.

All Members of Congress have stones like this one. This is John C. Calhoun's stone.

At first I thought this was a memorial for a bishop. Turns out it was for the Army's Commander-in-Chief who died in 1841. See his plaque below.

Proof they'll let anyone in - this is J. Edgar Hoover's burial site. New FBI recruits are suppose to maintain the site but because of the COVID pandemic it has gone neglected. At least that's their excuse. Time will tell.

One of life's ironies - he's near what's named the gay corner.

This is the burial site of Leonard Matlovich. Here's a portion of his page in Wikipedia:

Technical Sergeant Leonard Philip Matlovich (July 6, 1943 – June 22, 1988)[1] was an American Vietnam War veteran, race relations instructor, and recipient of the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.[2] He was the first gay service member to purposely out himself to the military to fight their ban on gays, and perhaps the best-known openly gay man in America in the 1970s next to Harvey Milk. His fight to stay in the United States Air Force after coming out of the closet became a cause célèbre around which the gay community rallied. His case resulted in articles in newspapers and magazines throughout the country, numerous television interviews, and a television movie on NBC. His photograph appeared on the cover of the September 8, 1975, issue of Time magazine, making him a symbol for thousands of gay and lesbian servicemembers and gay people generally.[3][4][5][6] Matlovich was the first named openly gay person to appear on the cover of a U.S. newsmagazine.[7][8] According to author Randy Shilts, "It marked the first time the young gay movement had made the cover of a major newsweekly. To a movement still struggling for legitimacy, the event was a major turning point."[9] In October 2006, Matlovich was honored by LGBT History Month as a leader in the history of the LGBT community.

As you can see from the numerous stones on top of his memorial, this site is frequently visited. After his burial, other gays selected sites near him.