Special Events

Talking Spirits X: Forest Hill Cemetery Tour

October 1 - 5, 2008

School tours: Wed-Fri, October 1-3, 2008 – 9am to 4pm

$40/group; advance reservation required

Public tours: Sunday, October 5, 2008 – Noon to 4pm

$5/adult, $2/child; tours leave every 15 minutes

Join us for the tenth annual Talking Spirits: Forest Hill Cemetery Tour, held at beautiful Forest Hill Cemetery, 1 Speedway Road, in Madison. This award-winning living history program illuminates the lives of many prominent—and lesser known—figures in Wisconsin history. Focusing on the contributions of Wisconsin’s Civil War veterans as well as those individuals who supported the war effort at home and elsewhere, local actors and actresses don period dress, giving visitors the once-in-a-lifetime experience of meeting these characters on the cemetery grounds. Included along with six vignettes will be informative discussions of the cemetery’s rich history and gravestone art.

This year’s characters:

William Noland, prominent African-American resident of Madison

Frank Oakley and wife, officer, 7^th Wisconsin Infantry

Emilie Quiner, Civil War nurse and Madison schoolteacher

John Coleridge Pradt, 3^rd Wisconsin cavalry, wounded at Baxter Springs

Stephen Shipman, officer, 1^st Wisconsin Cavalry; architect, second Capitol

George Washington Spears, Confederate solider killed at Camp Randall by guard