Cemetery Walk Biography Introductions

Before you begin:

Watch this short movie: cem walk photos.

Step 1) > > > Click this Link to the Audio Instruction< < < and read the article below (Local dead 'return' to tell of adversities).

(Open the link and then minimize it, so you can hear the information and see this page.)

Local dead 'return' to tell of adversities By Dan Craft  Posted: Thursday, September 30, 2010 12:00 am

BLOOMINGTON -- After 16 years and more than 170 resurrections, you might think the reserve has been depleted at Bloomington's Evergreen Cemetery.

Hardly, says Judy Brown, founder and artistic director of the annual Evergreen Cemetery Discovery Walk, which returns the dead to the living this weekend and next (11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday).

The east-side resting place is filled with stories just waiting to be dug up by Brown and her Illinois Voices Theatre performers/writers.

This year's eight revivals were selected, per tradition, for their compelling human interest stories of past life in Bloomington-Normal.

"It never ceases to amaze me that we can choose characters at random and they all end up having a similar story," says Brown. "I think that this year it's particularly interesting, since they're all dealing with adversity in one way or another."

In each case, "they are directly attempting to solve societal problems or they're trying to solve their own problems -- and I just love it that it shakes out this way," she adds.

The Evergreen Cemetery Discovery Walk is a joint presentation of Illinois Voices Theatre, the McLean County Museum of History and the cemetery.

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Step 2) Divide each side of a blank sheet of paper into 4 boxes and then record the name of each character listed below in one of the boxes.
Write your name(s) in one corner of the paper.
Answer Questions 1 - 10 based on 'The living dead' information-- record the answers in the box labeled for each character.

The living dead

Returned to life for two weekends at this year's Evergreen Cemetery Discovery Walk will be:

• Lucy Orme Morgan (1858-1944): Suffragist and ardent supporter of social systems (played by Julie Kistler, written by Peg Kirk). 
1) DV Term that goes with her being a suffragette? Why?  Lucy Orme Morgan's adversary was society itself. "She saw problems in the community and faced them head-on, getting the people with money involved in helping the less fortunate, including homeless children and the needy," notes Brown. 
2) DV Term that goes with her efforts to help society?  Why?

• Willis Stearles (1890-1956): Veteran of World War I African-American "Black Devils" regiment and Miller Park zookeeper (played by Bob Thurmond, written by Jared Brown). 
3) DV Term that might protect him from being fired for his skin color?  Why?

• Daniel T. Foster (1841-1920): Civil War soldier, prominent businessman, four-term Bloomington mayor, indicted official (played by Todd Wineburner; written by John Kirk). 
4) DV Term that includes his elected position? Why?

• William R. White (1844-1906): Nearly blind at birth, then a teacher and prize-winning inventor (played by Rhys Lovell; written by Don Shandrow). 
5) DV Term?  Why?

• William Van Schoick (1829-1899): A founder of Bloomington's largest meatpacking company, which became the source of a controversial odor (played/written by Ron Emmons). 
6) DV Term?  Why?

• Grace Jewett Austin (1872-1948): The Pantagraph's own society editor for a quarter-century, Grace Jewett Austin, "who'd never held a job until her husband died," says Brown. The 50-year-old reinvented herself via the red carpet reporter role.
7) DV Term that gave her the 'right to report'?  Why?

• German cigar baron Cristoph Mandler had to contend with the aftermath of World War I and its impact on the German community. Part of his remedy was to entertain by singing and dancing alongside a real doll named Mathilda.
8) DV Term that decribed the anti-German attitudes during and after World War I?  Why?

•Griotte: Acting as greeter and tour escort will be ISU student Tori Allen as The Griotte, a fictional African- American character simply billed as The Griotte, the term given to female storytellers from West Africa. 
9) DV TERM for African-American Storyteller?  Why? 
10) DV Term for idea brought here from West Africa?  Why?

Step 3)  Which character sounds the most interesting?  Why?  Put a star by that character with a brief explanation of why they interest you.

Step 4) As time allows. draw items in the box for each character that might go with them-- a pop tart for Lucy Morgan, a lion for Stearles, etc.