Grave site of James Whitcomb Riley, Crown Hill Cemetery A couple of weeks ago, my son was spending his mornings at an art workshop at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Across the street from the museum lies Indianapolis's Crown Hill Cemetery, so my daughter and I decided to explore it one day, after dropping him off.
First of all, the cemetery, is HUGE: 555 acres, which makes it the third largest non-governmental cemetery in the United States. I downloaded their map onto my phone, because I wanted to see some of the more 'famous' graves before we had to go back to pick up my son.
There is an actual Crown Hill at the cemetery, which is the highest point in the city of Indianapolis. I drove our car to the top of the hill, and that's where we began our adventure. At the top of that hill is buried James Whitcomb Riley, a nationally-recognized Indiana-born author and poet, known especially for his children's literature. Riley's name is an everyday word to those of us living in the Indy area; the Children's Hospital is named after him, as is the Riley Children's Foundation, which funds not only the hospital, but camps and other programs dedicated to the health and well-being of children.
Even having known about Riley's legacy in the city of Indianapolis, I still was still emotionally touched when we walked up to his grave site. Underneath beautiful classical columns lay his stone and this plaque.
First of all, the cemetery, is HUGE: 555 acres, which makes it the third largest non-governmental cemetery in the United States. I downloaded their map onto my phone, because I wanted to see some of the more 'famous' graves before we had to go back to pick up my son.
There is an actual Crown Hill at the cemetery, which is the highest point in the city of Indianapolis. I drove our car to the top of the hill, and that's where we began our adventure. At the top of that hill is buried James Whitcomb Riley, a nationally-recognized Indiana-born author and poet, known especially for his children's literature. Riley's name is an everyday word to those of us living in the Indy area; the Children's Hospital is named after him, as is the Riley Children's Foundation, which funds not only the hospital, but camps and other programs dedicated to the health and well-being of children.
Even having known about Riley's legacy in the city of Indianapolis, I still was still emotionally touched when we walked up to his grave site. Underneath beautiful classical columns lay his stone and this plaque.
Plaque near gravestone of James Whitcomb Riley
I gave my daughter some coins to place on his grave.
She sat next to a life-size statue of a child reading before we continued our adventure walking around the cemetery.
James Whitcomb Riley is not part of my family tree, but I enjoyed this visit to his grave just as much as I do when I visit family members' graves. Sometimes we genealogists are so focused on finding just OUR ancestors that we don't realize there are so many amazing stories and amazing people to learn about outside of our families who have had great impacts on our lives and our communities.
©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
