Cemeteries Are Busy at Christmas

English: PENSACOLA, Fla. (Dec. 11, 2010) Wreaths are placed at Barrancas National Cemetery to honor fallen veterans as part of a Wreaths Across America ceremony. Wreaths Across America began at Arlington National Cemetery almost 20 years ago and has spread across the country as a means to honor America's fallen heroes. The effort's motto is Remember, Honor and Teach. (U.S. Navy photo by Steve Vanderwerff/Released) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It is a tradition to bring candles to graves on Christmas - thousands and thousands of candles fill the cemeteries during Christmas. The cemeteries are full of candles and people remembering their relatives and friends also on All Saints' Day. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Those who document cemetery history note that most cemeteries are their busiest on Memorial Day and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Military graves are often decorated with wreaths and bright red bows provided by a volunteer organization: Wreaths Across America.

In the Southwest it has been a tradition that on Christmas Eve, families visit their departed in local cemeteries. In New Mexico, luminaries (lights in paper bags) light the graves. Some families bring traditional foods and eat before they leave. Others stay long enough to sing Christmas carols.

In east coast cities, florists sell "pillows and blankets" made of Christmas trees and decorations that can be placed on the graves. Masses are said in cemeteries in Buffalo, New York in order to allow families to "gather and share memories."

In Long Beach, All Souls and Forest Lawn Long Beach, have many graves that are festively decorated with small trees and other regalia symbolizing Christmas. Some families set up a small sun shade and bring music and sit for hours at the grave of a loved one -- especially that of a child.

Cemetery rules and regulations govern what can be placed on a grave site and when it needs to be removed.

The Reign of Terror in Long Beach

Now that we are through the election, it might be interesting to see some of the political problems Long Beach faced in the early 1900's.

Remember, the City had incorporated, unincorporated and then incorporated again in 1897 primarily over the issue of alcohol. Most residents were very conservative Christians from the mid-west and wanted to keep Long Beach "dry." Outside its boundaries, saloons sold the devil's drink and so business interests inside the City wanted some way to sell it too. So the Board of Trustees -- our first council -- passed an ordinance allowing alcohol with a physician note or to be sold at hotels with less than 15 beds.

As the City grew so did its political problems. In 1905, the local press reported that there were a series of attacks on the homes of elected officials and public buildings by anonymous individuals and dubbed it the "Reign of Terror in Long Beach."

Mayor Rufus Eno claimed to have received a note threatening him with "disfigurement."  Someone doused Eno's house with oil so it could be set on fire. Other homes were dynamited.

Eno resigned in 1906 after being arrested for taking a $350 bribe from an architect who wanted the contract to design the city's "pleasure pier and sun parlor." Eno was not convicted but another council member was.
In 1913, the auditorium connected with the pier and sun parlor collapsed sending dozens of mostly women to their death.

Long Beach had to pay tens of thousands in claims when it was found there was faulty construction -- pilings not proper -- which caused the collapse.

Eno is buried with his wife Julia in Sunnyside Cemetery.

Puvunga

There is an interesting article today in the Press Telegram about Puvunga. The Tongva natives inhabited the area known as Long Beach many years before 1543 when the European Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo "discovered" this special land on the west coast.

The Europeans left the Tongva alone for more than 200 years after Cabrillo's excursion. When the Spanish returned the Tongva were pressed into slavery by the Catholic missionaries. Eventually the Tongva (which translates as "people of the earth") were renamed San Gabriel Mission indians or Gabrielinos after the Mission San Gabriel Arcangel, where they were forced to work the land and tend cattle and sheep.

According to archeologists, the earliest Tongva utilized funeral pyres (ahtochgnah) to cremate their dead. The bones and ashes called kooseerok, were then scattered to the east. Burial sites were called koonsaga. A deeply spiritual people, the Tongva participated  in a Tongva mortuary cemetery. Every one to four years, the tribe would hold a "cry" ceremony lasting for 16 days for the people who died since the last cemetery.

Th eastern portion of Long Beach contains a dozen or more archeological sites, including what is believed to be the ancient sacred Tongva village known as Puvunga, also called Pubuna. It is debated whether or not Puvunga is a burial ground even though human remains and artifacts suggesting burial have been found there.

It is clear that the land is considered to be the birth place of the Tongva lawgiver and god Chungichnish.

Puvunga is on land of California State University Long Beach and Rancho Los Alamitos historical site, which are adjacent to the now covered Bouton Creek, a tributary of the San Gabriel River that flowed into Alamitos Bay.

Puvunga was listed in 1974 in the National Register of Historic Places. A tribal memorial was placed in Purple Heart Park on the grounds of the VA Medical Center, which is also on Rancho Los Alamitos land.

In 1953, CSULB archaeologist Ethel Ewing removed human remains found underneath the Los Altos shopping center. Bones of 21 individuals and evidence of cremation were stored in the Liberal Arts 5 Bldg. for many years. During a renovation of Los Altos shopping mall in 1996, public art was installed, including the pictured representation of the artifacts found in the soil at Puvunga.

In the 1990s, CSULB officials planned to develop an open field on campus near the Japanese Gardens into a mini mall. The plan was stopped when tribal members and others sued to protect the site. Flyers declaring "Save It, Don't Pave It." and "Go Dig Up Your Own Grandmother!" were used to rally community support. The project was stopped.

While excavating ground to build a new parking structure at CSULB in 1994, more than 1.25 metric tons of shells, bone fragments, bone tools and pottery shards were unearthed, resulting in  what archeologists consider to be the best dated find of prehistoric pottery in all of California.

Win A Free Copy of Historic Cemeteries in Long Beach

Arcadia Launches Historic Cemeteries of Long Beach

Welcome to Historic Cemeteries of Long Beach

Welcome and thank you for visiting, Historic Cemeteries of Long Beach.

Author and local historian, Gerrie Schipske, is proud to present her fourth book on the early history of her hometown, Long Beach, California.

Gerrie has brought early Long Beach history to life with her stories featured in: "Rosie the Riveter in Long Beach," "Early Long Beach," "Early Aviation in Long Beach," and now "Historic Cemeteries in Long Beach."

Each book chronicles the people and their accomplishments that began and grew "the city by the sea."

This website features the stories of those who are buried in the three historic cemeteries of Long Beach: Municipal Cemetery, Sunnyside Cemetery and Forest Lawn Long Beach. Additionally, Schipske provides a fascinating look at early funeral customs and how they impacted the design of cemeteries. She also discusses

the significance of Long Beach's Civil War veteran population and the areas of the cemeteries in which they are buried.

Historic cemeteries are important to a community because they are outdoor museums where we can discover our past. We get a glimpse of the architecture of earlier times. We can walk around grave sites which are irreplaceable landmarks.

Posts to this site will include updates on each cemetery, events and opportunities to volunteer to help save, protect and preserve our historic cemeteries.