• Meartz, Paul D; Edkins, Fayaleen; and Sondrol, Ronald. 1989. Gravestones Provide Glimpse of History. North Dakota Department of Public Instruction Perspective (December): 4.

Gravestones Provide Glimpse of History

Paul D. Meartz [Mayville State University]
Fayaleen Edkins [Teacher Education Candidate]
Ronald Sondrol [Teacher Education Candidate]

A group of future teachers, taking the North Dakota course at Mayville State University, have been engaged in a study of Mayville's history; but their data come from the cemetery, not the library. They have been looking for the history of the town on gravestones. The project has proven useful in involving students in the story of the Mayville area and in the science of social science.

Louis Agassiz, as in Lake Agassiz, was a champion of learning science by contact. The cemetery project seeks to carry this into social science education. It is a model project for the future teachers in the class and for teachers and students across the state.

The project attempted to provide evidence, from the local area, for the premise that Anglo-Americans or "Yankees" were often the first settlers in frontier areas, only to leave once other groups arrived. The 'Yankees" established the area, then sold it to the immigrants. Father William Sherman, in Prairie Mosaic: An Ethnic Atlas of North Dakota (see pages 13 and 61), discussed this issue. If it is true that the "Yankees" did behave in this fashion, then cemetery should provide some supporting evidence. "Yankees" should be present among early burials, then decline rather rapidly.

The class was divided into groups for the purpose of surveying the cemetery. The last name and year of death on each burial marker in the Mayville Cemetery were gathered. Next, the ethnicity of each person was determined. This was a hare process, involving the sharing information in class and seeking it outside of class when necessary. Sometimes the group realized that they were just taking an "educated guess" because the ethnic identity of a family, no longer present in the area, could not be determined. Finally the number and percentage of persons buried from each of four ethnic groups (Anglo, Scandinavian, German, Others) was determined for several periods since prior to the official establishment of the town.

The students found that the hypothesis was not supported by the evidence found in the Mayville Cemetery. The Anglo-American element was present very early, burials prior to the establishment of the town were 41.6 percent Anglo, but once the dominant Scandinavian element arrived, the cemetery seems to have had a consistent number of Angle burials over the years (10-17 percent).

Students discovered that the use of historic records can create problems. One student noted that "The women of the survey take on the married name. We do not know their true nationality." Yet enthusiasm was high as several students wished they "could have surveyed more than one cemetery to get the total picture of the settling of Mayville-Portland."

This project has great potential for students of all ages. It combines history, ethnic studies, survey skills, mathematics, and writing. The eighth-grade North Dakota unit is an ideal place to take the group out to the cemetery for research activity. It is an opportunity for the direct observation of town history, especially ethnic history. Uncovering the ethnicity of various names is an investigative process. Parents, teachers. classmates, and townspeople can all be tapped for clues about the ethnicity and history of the "unknowns" on the list. The students are learning about themselves, at the same time, by identifying their own ethnic background. The survey involves careful work and recordkeeping. Students are learning discipline and the nature of scientific investigation. "Science," as in social science, is put in new perspective. Hypothesis development is not just for the physicist. Math of a simple nature is involved and writing the final report is an important part of the exercise.

The hypothesis, or goal,, can vary from year to year. This year the class can see if the Angle-Americans came, then stayed or left. Next year's group can determine the cultural differences associated with certain groups as shown by the nature of their grave stones. What differences exist in the design of the stone between various ethnic groups? How have the designs of stones changed over time? The next year, differences in lifespan between certain ethnic groups could be examined. There are a number of possibilities. This project is multifaceted in its educational objectives. and certainly may he defined as something unique in your school. As one surveyor noted, ":Its a good idea to see who settled in your area."