Arts & Entertainment

Not Dead to the World

Stroll through Forest Hills Cemetery is living history

by Jennifer Crutchfiels

May 07, 2008

History was hopping last Saturday at the Forest Hills Cemetery when historical Chattanooga luminaries came alive on a sunny day. All manner of people strolled through the tree-lined streets of the eternal home of people who were political, social, entertainment, military and business legends.

The first annual historical stroll of 2008 was an opportunity to spotlight people who made contributions to the building and growth of Chattanooga in economics and in the cultural arts. Volunteers enthusiastically shared the histories of people who contributed to the unique city that Chattanooga is today.

Businesspeople were lauded, including the Whiteside couple who invested in Lookout Mountain and Chattanooga and the Lambert couple who teamed their creative energies to develop the infamous Ruby Falls.

Men like A.M Johnson, who founded St. Elmo, and Newell Sanders were honored alongside Union General and Chattanooga mayor General John T. Wilder, as children played hide and seek in the shadows of the gravestones of baseball legends like the founder of the Lookouts, Joe Engel and little Jackie Gilbert, the girl who struck out Babe Ruth. The sounds of laughter and lively conversation likely pleased the spirits of musical legends like Joseph Cadek, jazz great Cortez Greer and opera legend Grace Moore and were certainly reflected in the happy faces of people who smiled readily as everyone enjoyed a beautiful day in Chattanooga.