A walk around Oakland Cemetery is a trip through Atlanta’s history and also a journey into the heart of the civic fabric of our city.
Alongside well-known Atlanta history makers like Mayors Ivan Allen and Maynard Jackson who transformed the city in the later decades of the twentieth century, less well known, but equally important individuals rest for eternity. Rhoda Kaufman served as the Executive Secretary of the Georgia Board of Public Welfare in the first half of the twentieth century; Rebecca Douglas Lowe founded the Atlanta Women’s Club; Marie Woolfolk Taylor was a founding member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority; and most recently, Tallie Sweat was an instrumental founder of Park Pride.
Which is why, when we started to get plugged in to the amazing work of Atlanta Way 2.0, we knew Oakland would be the perfect place to host an activator workshop. Our goal is to connect those doing the work in 2025 to the lives and legacies of those who came before, upon whose shoulders we walk today.
As a centrally located free greenspace that houses the history makers who made Atlanta what it is today — the good, the bad, and the ugly — we know that Oakland is the perfect place for our city to wrestle with who it is in pursuit of a more Beloved Community. And the completion of the new Oakland Visitor Center (formally opening in early April — come on by!) provides a space and venue for this work.
When we set out on the journey to design and build a Visitor Center to compliment the historic, beautiful 48-acre Oakland Cemetery we knew that we wanted to create a space that allowed people to gather and create community. While Oakland’s permanent residents make up the quietest neighborhood in the city, the friends, neighbors, and tourists who make up our 150,000 annual visitors come to Oakland for respite, recreation, reflection, and community.
In early April we’ll celebrate our Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting. We are using this moment to expand our work and commit to playing a more active role in the life of Atlanta: To help shape a more just and equitable future, to uncover historical silences, to elevate historically marginalized stories, and to empower present and future generations to positively impact the daily lives of our neighbors, friends, communities, and city.
Throughout the year we host events, programs, and tours for visitors of all ages, income levels, and from all parts of the city to inspire civic dialogue, to challenge our visitors to see our past (and present) with a more complex, nuanced view of the world, and to bring different people together to foster a broader sense of community throughout our city. Our new home, proudly outside the cemetery’s walls, shows that we’re not hiding and that we want to play an active role as a community convenor and meeting space.
So what can you do?
One way you can get involved is to join us for a tour, a walk around Oakland, or one of our upcoming events. A full calendar of our activities is available at www.oaklandcemetery.com.
Learn more about our city’s history! There’s no shortage of incredible books and resources to help ground you in our collective past.
And you can join us, and all of our fellow Atlanta Way 2.0 Activators, in committing to work every day to work intentionally and positively to improve Atlanta.
About the author:
Richard J. W. Harker is the President and CEO of the Historic Oakland Foundation.
Since joining Historic Oakland Foundation in 2019 Richard has served as the
organization’s director of programming and Volunteers (2017-2019), co-executive
director with long-time Executive Director David Moore (2019-2020), and as executive
director and president and CEO since January 1, 2022.
Prior to working at HOF, Richard worked at the Museum of History and Holocaust
Education at Kennesaw State University and Educational Cultural Exchanges in
London, England. Richard has a Ph.D. in History from Georgia State University and
Masters degrees in History from Durham University, England, and the University of St.
Andrews, Scotland.
Originally from Croydon, England, Richard also serves on the Boards of Civil Bikes and
the Cherokee Garden Library.
Rock on Richard!!!