University Cemetery

University Cemetery By Leigh Bratina

Georgia Avenue

Sewanee, TN

While on my recent travel to Sewanee, Tn (University of the South) I had the honor of visiting the dead. University Cemetery is a sedate cemetery at the University of the South, Sewanee. It could easily be mistaken for a churchyard in Savannah or somewhere in England. Like Savannah, it too has numerous emblematic reminders of the Confederate cause that decorate so many of its monuments and graves. The cemetery is final resting place to bishops, professors, Confederate officers, scholars and notable regional authors, as well as the 23rd Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, along with countless other clergymen and devotees of the Episcopal Church. The cemetery contains some of the finest sacred statuary in the region, representing trends in cemetery art from the late-Victorian period to the present.

University Cemetery is located behind the main campus building (down the road,behind Shapard Tower). The cemetery is one rich in history. You can just feel the ghost beckoning you to hear their individual life stories. The tombstones and markers are alive with moss relief’s feeding deep into the cement and stone materials in which they are made. Take a walk, literally, through history and read the dates on the markers. You will find yourself steeped in historical elements as you make your way through this idyllic setting of peaceful rest.