Doesn't that make sense? Almost all of us live fairly close to a cemetery that could use a little TLC. Think what a difference it could make if even a fraction of us developed the habit of doing a little sprucing up or tombstone-recording once a year!

In an attempt to motivate you, I'd like to share the story behind the grant I made for August of this year. I've always felt that genealogy deserves more credit than it gets and I think this is a notable example of how its impact extends far beyond the amassing of names and dates.

In its newly released City Plan, the city of Reno, Nevada calls its historic Hillside Cemetery both a "public landmark" and a "public nuisance." Over 1,400 graves of from the mid-1800s are destroyed or damaged from theft, vandalism, and college fraternity parties. Newspaper reports since 1979 refer to the cemetery, located behind the University of Nevada-Reno, as a "public eye-sore," "a disgrace," and "an embarrassment for the living."

A group of culturally and economically disadvantaged teenagers at the I Can Do Anything Charter High School in the Creative Combustion program (a nationally acclaimed and funded arts-in-education program for high-risk teens and children) became outraged when they discovered that people have been using the "tombstones of teens and kids as blocks for repairing their cars and having drinking parties."

These students created the Saving Generations project to raise public awareness and money for the restoration and preservation of the Hillside Cemetery. Over the past eight weeks, these teenagers have begun researching the life of a seventeen-year-old named Willie O'Reveal who died in 1896 and is buried in a pauper's grave within the cemetery.

When the students caused a public outcry last year by discovering and announcing that a senator to the Nevada State Legislature passed a bill allowing remains in the cemetery to be disinterred and removed so the land could be used for other purposes, the students gained local news coverage. Because of the success they have had in the past two months with researching Willie O'Reveal, Reno's City Council Advisory Board made Saving Generations a formal city project.

Kalee Sanchez, 16, says, "When my teacher Joe first told me about the cemetery, I thought how disgraceful that the people of Reno would allow this historical cemetery to get this way. It showed that the people of Reno had no respect for this city's heritage."

"I was outraged not by just the people partying, but also that nobody but us cared until the media got involved. Money was the big issue up until now. Disrespect to the people buried there, I found disgusting," says Matt Solomon, a senior at the charter high school.

The students say that in the past two months, they feel "powerful." Rose Reed, a sophomore who has taken one of the lead roles in researching the teenage boy who died on 27 September 1896, exclaims, "It's cool to see what we've done so far. Now people are paying attention and every month at the Reno City Council Advisory Board meeting, the work we are doing for the cemetery is put on the agenda."

Lisa Etcheverry, who was one of thirteen students in the Creative Combustion program to represent the state of Nevada at the 2001 National History Day Competition in Washington, D.C. with her original play and performance on the history of American women and mental illness, explains, "Fund raising is the next step. We need the money to research each and every grave. Then we will publish the findings in a book to sell to raise money for the cemetery's restoration."

Dawna Partin, also a Nevada History Champion, who participated in the national competition with her original play on ancestors and prejudices in cultures, says, "We want to bring more youth into the program to show them that finding out and researching our personal, family and community pasts is important for teens to know who they are in the present and who they will be in the future."

"To make a cemetery from a 'public nuisance' to an honored 'public landmark' is really important," says Stephanie Benton. "Teenagers just aren't taught to honor the dead who include our ancestors."

Jesse Charles, who the other students call "OZ," is another prime researcher. Having never done ancestral research, the fourteen-year-old student discovered that Willie O'Reveal's heritage is Irish, with his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather coming from Ireland in 1750 to fight in the American Revolutionary War. "Nobody knew anything about this kid who died over a hundred years ago. Now we know the names of his ancestors all the way back to when they came from Ireland to New York, then to Indiana and to Kentucky, and then to Nevada."

In her research, Rose also discovered that the boy's father died eight years later and is buried in Texas. "People kept telling me that doing this kind of research would be hard, but it was really pretty easy. All it takes is time." The students are now trying to discover where Willie's four older sisters are buried.

The students are also working on a video documentary on their work in raising money and public awareness to restore the cemetery. Scott Wright, a graduating senior, says, "Everything takes money. And media coverage. Then people listen. Now they're listening to us teenagers on behalf of all the teenagers who are buried, forgotten and disrespected for decades in that cemetery."

Joseph Andrejchak Galata is the founder and director of Creative Combustion which uses the arts, including community history, to help teenagers and children "become creative rather than destructive." Says Galata, an Arts-in-Education Specialist, "I've worked with well over 20,000 high risk teenagers and children. One thing I know for sure is that youth need to know their ancestry, their heritage. Kids today are joining street gangs for a sense of identity and a feeling of belonging. Learning about one's ancestors, learning about those who throughout history formed and developed the community, gives the youth the knowledge that they have a place in this world because their ancestors created a place for them."

Furthermore, Galata states, "Today's youth are given the responsibility to create a place for their children and grandchildren in years to come. Passing on the knowledge of one's ancestry and one's community heritage is as valuable as learning math and science. What good is it if someone knows how to add two plus two, but doesn't know from where and whom he/she comes?"

I think it would be a Happy Halloween indeed if I were to have another dozen such stories to share with you this same time next year!

EDITOR'S NOTE: We couldn't resist looking through the Historical Newspapers for Reno, NV and found that an obituary for Willis O. Reveal appears in the Daily Nevada State Journal, 29 September 1896, page 2. It reads:

Died
----
Reveal —in Verdi September 27, 1895, Willis O. Reveal, a native of Iowa, aged 17 years and 4 months.

The funeral will take place from the Congregational Church at 2 o'clock this afternoon.

The deceased was a son of A.W. Reveal and a brother of Mrs. A.I. McGrew of Verdi. Friends and acquaintances are respectfully invited to attend the funeral.

To learn more about Saving Generations, contact the students in Creative Combustion at the I Can Do Anything Charter High School, 775-857-1544, 1195 Corporate Blvd., Reno, Nevada 89502.

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