Tombstone photos on display at BECHS' history center
Jul. 28—Visitors to an exhibit of tombstone photographs at Blue Earth County Historical Society's history center are encouraged to pause and reflect on the lives of early county residents. Words carved into stone and left at gravesites for future generations to read can be brief but weighty.
Many old tombstones in the area provide the dates of birth and death for very young children, but no description of how they died. Other inscriptions honor the military service of Civil War-era veterans who were buried in solitary graves instead of next to family members.
Viewers to the "Tombstones of Blue Earth County" may feel free to come up with their own stories behind the headstones, said BECHS Curator-archivist Shelley Harrison.
The photographs were created by Bend of the River club members, including Charlie Berg's handful of striking images shot in Mankato. When the club chose "tombstones" as an assignment for one of its monthly challenges, Berg ventured out to burial sites he'd not visited in a while.
He snapped photographs of headstones in a pioneer cemetery on the north side of town as well as a panoramic view of rows upon rows of identically cut granite stones marking the resting places of School Sisters of Notre Dame members.
"Imagine, it's like being in Arlington Cemetery. The tombstones are all exactly the same size and color," he said.
The intentions of the dozen or so photographers with works in the show was to honor the deceased and to offer clues to the area's history, participants said.
Some members went for black-and-white, and others preferred their images to be in color. They weren't in pursuit of macabre images.
"The photographs are of peaceful settings; they are not sad or spooky," said Berg's wife, Virginia Hughes Berg.
Randy Wood, the club's president, said Bend of the River members liked the challenge of having a month to concentrate on images of tombstones. Some of his photographs were shot in a small graveyard in rural Amboy.
"Gloomy, that's the mood I wanted to set. That cemetery is a sad little place that's got some incredible stories," he said.
Wood chose an overcast day to take pictures of the tombstones, including those for a family's two children who died in 1920.
"I remember saying to myself, 'My God, how did these people bear all of this?'" Wood said.
Photo club member John Othoudt also is a history buff. Working on the photo assignment increased his appreciation for the people who settled in the Minnesota River Valley.
Othoudt chose a cemetery in the Lake Crystal area, where he had earlier happened upon these words inscribed on a headstone: "C.O.B, 1MNN.MTD.RANGER." His curiosity led him to doing research on Francis L. Spencer, the man honored by the headstone.
"I remember thinking at the time that I know nothing about the Minnesota Mounted Rangers," he said.
Othoudt was relieved when he found out Spencer had served in the military before the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. That meant he hadn't taken part in expelling Indigenous people from the county.
The club's photographs will be displayed through September. Members are hosting a reception for the show 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
Bend of the River members have had several exhibits at the history center in recent years. Harrison said displays of photographs are a natural fit for the history center.
"Anything that creates interest in local history and tells a story is always good for the historical society."
