Gulfport students take part in cemetery revitalization project

In the gates of the historical Mississippi City Cemetery in Gulfport, something old will soon be made new again at the hands of local elementary school students.

Students in the QUEST program at Pass Road Elementary and Central Elementary have partnered with the University of Southern Mississippi’s Anthropology Department and the Historical Society of Gulfport to revitalize the cemetery.

Melanie Davis, the Gifted and Talented program teacher at Central Elementary and Pass Road Elementary, shared some of the work that has been put in by her students.

“Some of the things we have been working on so far is interviewing community members about their ancestors that are buried here,” Davis said. “A lot of our local history is oral history, and so we’ve been trying to get them to come in and share their oral history with us. We contacted the Anthropology Department to share with the students about different career opportunities and what an anthropologist does, and how they use cemeteries for their community research.”

Students will be cleaning the cemetery and headstones as well as researching those names that they find, many of whom played a significant role in Gulfport’s history. Davis shared that she hopes to celebrate many of these individuals.

“Google isn’t the answer to everything, so a lot of our local history is actually oral history,” Davis explained. “It’s digging through the archives, finding obituaries to find out about our community… every community had its heroes, and we want to recognize ours.”

It all begins on Friday, September 20th, when students will learn the proper techniques for cleaning headstones and discuss the project before putting the plan into action at the cemetery.

“They’re really fascinated with it, and I’m so excited for them,” Davis said.

Once the Mississippi City Cemetery is revitalized, tours of the property will begin. Davis explained what tour-goers can expect.

“What we do is we take all the research that we have, and the students write up skits about different people that are in the cemetery and the things that they provided to our community,” Davis said.

Tours are expected to start on Saturday, October 12th.