DEL.ICIO.USAtlanta man expert on cemetery symbols
For the Journal-Constitution
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Take a trip with Richard Waterhouse and you’re likely to see more than just the usual sights and sounds. No matter where he journeys, the Piedmont Heights resident always manages to fit a trip to the local cemetery into his itinerary.
“The neat thing about cemeteries is that there’s art, architecture and symbolism all in one place,” said Waterhouse. “People used to make cemeteries into parks. The Victorians in particular saw death as a resting or sleeping place, not as something macabre, as many people think.”
LOUIE FAVORITE/lfavorite@ajc.com
Richard Waterhouse, who has been studying cemetery symbols since college, will be leading tours Sunday at Oakland Cemetery. Among the monuments there is this one known as the ‘Kaiser Anchor.’
RICHARD WATERHOUSE, Oakland Cemetery guide
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Waterhouse’s most recent excursions included treks to final resting places in Maine and Chicago, and next month, he’s planning to visit the famous Pére-Lachaise in Paris.
He’ll be at Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery for the Sunday in the Park festivities, where he’ll be sharing his fascination with visitors.
“The Victorians had a real love for architecture and put classic Roman, Greek and Revival styles in their cemeteries,” he said. “They were fascinated by the many archaeological digs that were going on at the time. They took the different images that were coming back from those digs and used them in their mausoleums.”
For the past 20 years, Waterhouse has given tours at Oakland and has developed a deep appreciation for cemetery symbolism. But his fascination with the subject goes back to his days in college.
“I have a background in art and art history and have been identifying symbols since then,” he said. “For instance, the weeping willow means mourning and grief. Tree stumps signify a life cut short. Angels are protectors, guardians, messengers from Heaven. A flame is life.” Waterhouse’s cemetery knowledge extends to unusual trivia facts as well.
At Oakland, he can point out the shell-shaped monuments that were ordered from the Sears catalog at the turn of the 20th century. “You just picked them out of the catalog for $100 to $160,” he said.
Waterhouse shares his specialized knowledge in a newsletter he sends to other Oakland guides. He’s also a member of the Association for Gravestone Studies and has written a book, “Sacred Symbols of Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery,” to be published next year. His next project is a work on symbols relating to Halloween.
Oakland visitors who take the 90-minute Waterhouse tour usually don’t know that the Victorians designed their monuments with such deliberate meaning.
“Most never realized that a weeping willow was the symbol of grief, and it’s great for me to share that,” he said. “But in 90 minutes, we get to touch on just a small portion of what’s out there.”
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