Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park is the final resting place to many who faced daunting challenges during their lives, and some of their stories were on full display this past weekend.
Guests gathered just inside the cemetery gates west of Des Plaines Avenue Oct. 25 for the 2020 Tale of the Tombstones, the annual cemetery walk hosted by the Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest.
This year’s theme was “Faith in Tough Times,” which shared the stories of grit, passion, tragedy and faith in a greater power of those interred at the cemetery.
Tour groups departed the main gate and travelled through the cemetery to visit various gravesites. At each grave, an actor portraying that person greeted visitors and told the story of the person interred.
Among the stories shared include a man born in Canada who was a renowned horseman and a member of the pioneer African American community in Oak Park more than a century ago; an Oak Park woman who fought valiantly for the right of all women to vote, a father and daughter who died in the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918-19 and a founder of the local Methodist church and philanthropist who endowed the first college for formerly enslaved people west of the Mississippi River.
Those wishing to learn more about the inhabitants of Forest Home Cemetery can purchase the Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest’s book “Nature’s Choicest Spot.” The book is available on the historical society’s website.
sschering@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter: @steveschering
