APRIL 16, 2009 ISSUE
Historian Michael Hardy Discusses Grave Matters At Watauga Library
Michael Hardy, Civil War historian and Monday night’s Watauga County Historical Society speaker, talks about one of his books before presenting at the Watauga County Public Library. Photo by Bernadette Cahill
For the second year in a row, High Country historian Michael Hardy kicked off the Watauga County Historical Society’s programs for 2009 with a talk entitled Graven Images, a review and slide show of gravestone symbols, held at the Watauga County Public Library.
Hardy, who has written many historical articles since the late 1990s, has always been interested in gravestones, he said. His first recollection of a cemetery was visiting the Old Colonial Cemetery in Savannah, Ga. when he was 10 years old.
When doing the research leading to his first book, The Thirty-Seventh North Carolina Troops, published in 2003, he went to see the graves of people he was writing about and became seriously interested in gravestone symbols.
In his talk, Hardy reviewed many images found commonly on gravestones from the late 1600s to modern times, including winged death heads, clasped hands, stars and urns. “Each symbolism often has more than one meaning,” he said.
August Release For Historical Society’s History of Watauga Architecture
In her introduction of Hardy, Bettie Bond, the society’s vice-president, said she hoped that his presence at the opening program would become an annual tradition.
Bond said that the society’s long-awaited book, The Architectural History of Watauga County, now has an early August release date. The book features more than 600 photos and 300 pages of text, with an Elliott Daingerfield painting on the cover.
“This is going to be a book that we will be very proud of,” Bond said.
The pre-publication price of The Architectural History of Watauga County is $55 plus $9 shipping and handling. After publication, the price rises to $65.
Since its organization in 1977, the Watauga County Historical Society has undertaken many local history education and historic preservation projects. New members are always welcome.
To order The Architectural History of Watauga County, write to P.O. Box 3453, Boone, N.C. 28607, and enclose a check for $64 made payable to Watauga County Historical Society.
For more information about the society, email wataugachs@hotmail.com.
Community Interest
News & Notes
Events
Arts & Entertainment
