Tag Archives: famous people

-North Carolina, Cemeteries, Famous People

Hair Clips and $1.87-The Gifts Left on O. Henry’s Grave

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William Sydney Porter (1862-1910) was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. Porter’s pen name was O. Henry. A prolific short story writer, his most famous story is “The Gift of the Magi,” a story about a husband and wife who struggle to afford Christmas gifts and their determination to buy the perfect gift for each other.

Buried in Asheville’s Riverside Cemetery, visitors frequently leave $1.87 on his grave, the amount Della possessed in savings at the story’s beginning, and hair clips.

If you’ve never read the story or want to reread it, you can read it for free on Google Play Books.

-North Carolina, Cemeteries, Famous People

The Final Resting Place of Author Thomas Wolfe in Asheville, North Carolina

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Born in Asheville, North Carolina, author Thomas Wolfe’s final resting place is in Asheville’s Riverside Cemetery. His most notable work, Look Homeward, Angel, was a fictionalized version of his life. Wolfe died at the age of 37 of tuberculosis. He is buried next to his parents.

The colorful array of pens left to honor the author
-Georgia, Black History, Famous People, Houses, National Register of Historic Places

Alma Thomas’s Childhood Home-Columbus, Georgia

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Muscogee County

Alma Thomas (1891-1978) was a Black artist known for her colorful and impressionist work. Born in Columbus, Georgia, she and her family lived there until she was sixteen. In 1907, they relocated to Washington, DC to escape the racial hostility and threats of violence that were directed towards the Black community at the hands of whites.

She was considered a member of the Washington School of Color. A lifelong art teacher, she was the first graduate of the art department at Howard University.

Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons
The Eclipse

Suggested books

Painter and Educator

Alma Thomas Children Book

-Georgia, Cemeteries, Famous People, National Register of Historic Places, Symbolism

Flannery O’Connor at Memory Hill Cemetery-Milledgeville, Georgia

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Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964) was an American writer for her novels and short stories. Her final resting place is next to her parents in Memory Hill Cemetery in Milledgeville, Georgia. Despite being born in Savannah, Milledgeville was Flannery’s home. Her family moved there when she was fifteen and lived there until her passing at 39. Her childhood home and the family farm, Andalusia, still stand in Milledgeville.

Whenever I’ve visited her grave, there have been flowers and other mementos. When I took this photo, someone(s) had left behind coins as a sign that someone visited. The IHS symbol stands for Iesus Hominum Salvator, which means Jesus, savior of mankind, or it can stand for the first three letters of Jesus’s name, iota eta sigma.