Chicago's Cemetery Lady, Helen Sclair

And, out last stop on this tour of the Bohemian National Cemetery is the final resting place of Helen Sclair, whose efforts in the field of local cemetery-study are tremendous. That's right.  She is now dead and has joined those whose memory she devoted much of her life to saving.  Every tombstone has a story and it was her desire to find out as many as possible.

We need more people like her.  She died in 2009.

Her last address is the same where she is now.  While she was still alive, she lived her last eight years in a house on the cemetery grounds.

She is credited with uncovering a treasure trove of historic documents in the state archives at Northeastern Illinois University about Chicago's first cemetery, which was on the site that today is Lincoln Park.  Mrs. Sclair was of the opinion that not every body was dug up when the cemetery became a park.

So, the next time you're at the zoo or enjoying Lincoln Park, just think....

Bohemian National Cemetery-- Part 11: The Pilgrim Statue

The statue depicting an older woman shrouded in long robes, was designed by Czech-born sculptor Albin Polasek.  It is one of his two works displayed at the Bohemian cemetery --the other, Mother, is located just outside the crematorium.

Polasek moved from New York to Chicago in 1916, to become the head of the department of modeling and sculpture at the Chicago Art Institute.  The life-size sculpture was commissioned as a memorial to Frantiska Stejskal, the mother of the Stejskal-Buchel families, and shows a woman walking toward the family's mausoleum.

Other examples of his work in the Chicago-area include  the 7-foot-tall The Sower at the Chicago Botanic Garden (sporting a face mask these days but otherwise in the buff) and Spirit of Music in Grant Park.  These statues have not yet been taken down by certain people.

Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery-- Part 9: SS Eastland Disaster

On July 24, 1915, the SS Eastland -- loaded with Western Electric employees and their families -- prepared to depart from its dock on the Chicago River in downtown Chicago and head across Lake Michigan for a company picnic in Michigan City, Indiana.

The boat suddenly listed to its side and capsized, trapping hundreds in the vessel as water poured in.  Out of the 844 people drowned, Bohemian Cemetery has 143 Eastland victims buried in its plots, the most of any cemetery in the Chicago area.

Of  the 22 families wiped out by the disaster, four are buried in the cemetery.  Some, including those of Czech ancestry, include a short line -- "obet Eastlandu" or "victim of the Eastland."

Almost 100 years later, a memorial was dedicated to the victims of that ship at the Bohemian cemetery.  A black plaque described the disaster on one side and details of the Eastland gravesites on the other.  A granite slab with a ship's wheel juts out of the slab with carved ripples that represent the sinking of the ship and its raising following the incident.

Sadly, Today, the Tragedy Is Hardly Remembered.  

Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery-- Part 8: The Cermak Family Mausoleum (That Would Be Mayor Anton Cermak)

Tens of thousands of people waited in line for hours -- in the bitter cold-- to pay their respects to Chicago's 36th mayor, Anton Cermak, and an estimated 50,000 assembled in the Bohemian cemetery for the conclusion of his funeral procession in March 1933.

The Czech immigrant, who once sold firewood from a wagon, worked his way up to become chief of Chicago's Democratic machine and was considered a unifier of the city's working ethnic groups.  He was hit by bullets intended for President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt during a ride with him in a convertible car in Miami, on Feb. 15, 1933, and died 19 days later.

Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor, visited the site on Oct. 2, 1933.

The inscription upon his final resting place says:  "I'm glad it was me instead of you," which Cermak allegedly told FDR after he was shot.  The Tribune reported the quote without attribution.  Scholars doubt Cermak ever said these words.

Also in the Cermak mausoleum is one of the former mayor's daughters, Helena, who had been married to former Illinois Governor Otto Kerner Jr.

Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery-- Part 7: Wanda Stopa Burial Site

Chicago's youngest and first assistant U.S. District Attorney was a brilliant Polish immigrant named Wanda Stopa.  She had been one of two women to graduate from John Marshall Law School in 1921.  But just three years after graduation, Stopa left her career, married a Russian count then fell in love with a rich, married advertising executive, Y. Kensley Smith, who paid for her to live in New York.

When Smith refused to leave his wife Geneivieve, nicknamed Doodles, Stopa showed up at their Palos Park home on April 24, 1924, intending to kill Smith's wife.  She took a shot, but it hit the couple's elderly caretaker, Henry Manning, killing him.

Stopa went on the run, killing herself by swallowing poison in a Detroit hotel room.

Approximately 10,000 Chicagoans turned out for her wake and funeral.

Chicago's National Bohemian Cemetery-- Part 6: Civil War and Spanish-American War Memorials

CIVIL WAR VETERANS MEMORIAL

I'll write more about this in my Saw the Elephant: Civil War blog.

Dedicated in 1892.  Said to be the first Bohemian soldiers monument in America.

*****************************

SPANISH AMERICAN WAR VETERANS MEMORIAL

If this statue looks familiar, then you've probably seen it in another cemetery or outside a government building in another state. The 8 1/2-foot-tall figure atop a granite boulder "represents the veteran as he appeared in the ranks" during the 1898 war, according to the Chicago Tribune story on the statues unveiling in September 1926.

A cross-shaped plaque listing the names of 147 Spanish-American War veterans was added in 1964.

Chicago's National Bohemian Cemetery-- Part 5: N. Brada Is First Burial in 1877

 MARKER MEMORIALIZING FIRST BURIAL

Dates differ as to when the infant known as N. Brada was buried here.  The marker says the internment occurred July 1, 1877, but the cemetery's official listings recorded it August 6, 1877.

One possible reason for this, a Friends of the Bohemian National Cemetery newsletter points out, is it wasn't until after the baby girl was buried that the cemetery applied for the permit.  Technically, the cemetery did not exist until July 1, 1877.

Originally near the entrance gates, the child's final resting place was moved to another, more private location within the cemetery.  This marker is only a cenotaph, or commemorative plaque.

National Bohemian Cemetery-- Part 4: About the Cubs Fans

 Burials are not allowed at Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs, but at the cemetery, located just five miles northwest of the field, a local man came up with another option.

More than 200 niches for cremation urns are tucked into a 24-foot long, ivy-covered red brick wall with a yellow "400" painted on it -- mimicking the one in center field at Wrigley Field. Old box seats, home plate, original sod and a stained-glass window featuring the iconic centerfield scoreboard permanently set at 1:20 are also included.

I wonder if the ivy is Wrigley Field ivy.  Back in the 1970s, I bought an ivy cutting at Wrigley Field and planted it by my garage in Round Lake Beach and before long, it had taken over that whole side of the garage.  I named it the Dave Kingman Memorial Ivy as he was our big home run hitter back in those days.

After the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, just about every cemetery in the Chicago area sprouted small Cubs and Cubs World Series Champ flags.  Even a spot along a local road where a Cub fan had died during the playoffs had a Cubs World Champion flag on it.

It appears that there are still niches available, so for that Cub fan of yours....

Wrigley Field Forever.

Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery-- Part 3: The Cubs Treestone Marker

 One couple have shown their own design to show their never-ending support for the Cubs in a style  found throughout the cemetery's grounds.  The tree-stump gravestone, or treestone, is made from limestone, which is easy to carve and can feature a variety of symbols.

In this example, which is the first one installed at the cemetery in  more than 70 years, there are branches from two trees barely touching, forming the shape of a heart.  According to its sculptor, Walter S. Arnold, this treestone features a transistor radio -- which is tuned to WGN AM 720 -- because the husband, who was blind, loved to listen to the play-by-play while attending Cubs games.

There's a crack through the name of his wife, who survives him, symbolizing her broken heart.  At the bottom are symbols of then things they enjoyed together.

Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery-- Part 2: A Break from the Catholic Church

In response to the Catholic Church, the Bohemians decided to build their own cemetery on 40 acres in Jefferson Township, which was then  a few miles north of Chicago.  On January 17, 1877, an assembly of Bohemian leaders decided it was time for their own cemetery, the Bohemian National Cemetery.

Freethinking leaders involved in the cemetery's creation are honored Ladimir Klacel Circle, named after the Bohemian philosopher.  He's not buried there, but there is a bust of him which was the first public statue placed in the cemetery.

***********************************

AROUND THE CEMETERY

**  COLUMBARIUM AND CREMATORIUM

This two story limestone building looks like a basilica with its domed ceiling and bell tower provides spaces for storage of cremation urns and cremation of remains.  The main level's ceremony hall has a more-than-23-foot-tall ceiling, intricate ornamental decoration and stained-glass windows and has hosted funerals, speaking engagements, concerts and meetings since its completion in 1913.

More than 700 spaces or niches for the ashes of the deceased are also housed here.

And, There Is A Lot More.

Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery-- Part 1: Meet the 'Cemetery Lady'

 From the October 11, 2020, Chicago Tribune "Inside Bohemian National Cemetery with 'Cemetery Lady' Helen Sclair" by Kori Rumore.

Bohemian National Cemetery, at Pulaski Road and Foster Avenue on the Northwest Side, is a burial ground that welcomes all on its 124-acre site with beautiful scenery and memorials to people and events important in Chicago history.

Helen Sclair knows a whole lot about this cemetery as well as the more than 700 burial sites in the Chicagoland area.  She is a tour guide to these cemeteries and says she never "seen a cemetery she didn't like."

The Bohemian National Cemetery, where more than 120,000 people are buried, is the result of tensions between the Roman Catholic Church and local immigrants who came to Chicago from Bohemia and Moravia, now known as the Czech Republic.  These immigrants, called Bohemians, were expected by the Catholic Church to make confession before death.  If not, they were banned from burial within Chicago's Catholic cemeteries.

--Cooter