Beginning with the first weekend in May cemeteries throughout the Yell County area will hold their yearly decoration day, a time for families to decorate and clean their relatives’ graves. Decoration days continue throughout the month.
I grew up watching my family participate in Decoration Days. When my father was young, decoration days served as a home coming of sorts. There was dinner on the ground, sometimes even a sermon, and a great deal of visiting. By the time I was a child dinner on the ground had largely disappeared in the Yell County area, but the visiting still went on, especially at the Harkey’s Valley cemetery in Yell County.
My mother was the tradition bearer (a phrase we folklorists use for someone who keeps a tradition or craft alive) of decoration days in our family. She purchased the flowers, knew which graves to decorate (some were unmarked), and kept up with which weekend we were supposed to decorate which cemetery. My mother passed away in 2008, and last year when decoration day came around I, along with the help of my father, found myself taking on the role of the tradition bearer, decorating the graves she tended to while also decorating her own. Although I had always been interested in the tradition, it took on a new meaning to me as I decorated my own mother’s grave. I also realized that not too many people in their thirties or younger are carrying on this tradition.
Therefore I decided to start documenting the tradition in our area. I’ll be doing the same thing this year, and I hope to interview more folks who participate in this tradition. I don’t have any specific plans for this research as of yet. My goal at the present time is just to document as much as I can.
Below are a few photos from last year.
If you or someone you know takes part in this tradition or has memories of taking part in this tradition I would love to hear from you! Email me at Meredithmartin_moats at yahoo dot com or leave a comment below.
Brearley Cemetery, Dardanelle, Arkansas
This cemetery is quite old, and one of the fascinating things about decoration day is the visual difference between the newer and older portions of the cemetery. The newer section of the cemetery is so vibrant and colorful after decoration. Here is the newer portion of the cemetery two days after decoration day last year.
Brearley Cemetery, Dardanelle, Arkansas May 11, 2009
And here is a photo from the older portion.
Brearley Cemetery Dardanelle, Arkansas May 11, 2009
Chickalah Methodist Cemetery, Chickalah, Arkansas
Unlike Brearley Cemetery, this cemetery is quite small and very few people still decorate graves. My father has a few relatives buried here.
Broken headstone at Chickalah Methodist Cemetery
Harris Cemetery, Cotton Town, Yell County Arkansas
Cotton town is one of many now defunct communities in the Cardon Bottoms area, which was once a thriving cotton picking community. Very few people still decorate. My mother’s family lived in this area before moving to Dardanelle in the 1940s. I visited the cemetery last year with my cousins.
Headstone for my great grandparents, Rostus and Ivy McElroy. Most people knew her as Mama Mac.
Gravestone for my mother's stillborn sister. My mother and her brother had this stone made years after the baby's death.
My mother’s sister is one of many infant graves located in the cemetery. The area was swampy and filled with illness during the cotton picking years. Many children did not survive. Here is another headstone to mark infant deaths. This family is not related to me, but if you know something about them I would be very interested to learn more.
Milligan Children
Harkey’s Valley Cemetery, Harkey’s Valley, Arkansas
Although this cemetery is quite old, people still make yearly trips from as far as California to decorate graves. These photos were taken last year at decoration day, May 17, 2010. This is the only cemetery my family visits where people still congregate before and after decorating the graves. When I was a young girl there was a large crowd. Now there are only about fifteen people who come.
My father speaking with fellow grave decorators.
These women came from California to decorate their relatives' graves. Photo by Bryan Moats.
Decorating the graves.
View from the road. Photo by Bryan Moats.
A very pregnant me recording people talking about decoration days and growing up in Harkey's Valley. Photo by Bryan Moats.
Graves after decoration.
Once again, if you participate in decoration day, know someone who does, or know any related information you would be willing to share, please contact me. As of right now I do not have any specific plans for this research other than to record the tradition while it is still alive. I am very interested in hearing from anyone who participates in any decoration day.
Thanks for reading.