Sunday, November 3, 2013
Abbie Howard died in 1905. For over 100 years her body has been buried underneath a tree in an unmarked grave at Oakland Cemetery in downtown Atlanta. It’s been a year in the making but on Sunday Abbie received her headstone. The idea to raise funds for Ms. Howard, who some believe to be the basis of the character Belle Watling from Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind”, came from volunteers at the cemetery while portraying the madam during the Halloween tours in 2012. Funds were collected and donations were made, close to $2,200, and the tombstone was laid over Abbie Howard’s remains with a small ceremony for volunteers and some of the bigger contributors to the tombstone. An original poem was read by David Moore, the executive director for the ceremony, a champagne toast given and the four volunteers who portrayed the madam laid roses on her grave.
Rosalind Hillhouse (right), Alice Jankowski, Rachel Clarkin and Penny Luck touch the gravestone of Abbie Howard after placing roses on it at Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta on Sunday, November 3, 2013. Hillhouse and the other volunteers were key in raising funds for a gravestone for Howard, who according to some historians was the inspiration for the character Belle Watling in Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind”.
David Moore (right), executive director for Oakland Cemetery, reads a poem dedicated to Abbie Howard during a small dedication ceremony for her tombstone in Atlanta on Sunday, November 3, 2013. Donations were gathered from patrons during the cemetery’s 2012 Halloween tours to raise funds for a gravestone for Howard, who according to some historians was the inspiration for the character Belle Watling in Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind”.
Ren Davis takes a photo of Abbie Howard’s tombstone before a small dedication ceremony for her at Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta on Sunday, November 3, 2013. Donations were gathered from patrons during the cemetery’s 2012 Halloween tours to raise funds for a gravestone for Howard, who according to some historians was the inspiration for the character Belle Watling in Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind”.
Alice Jankowski (center) carries a flute of champagne during a small dedication ceremony for Abbie Howard at Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta on Sunday, November 3, 2013. Donations were gathered from patrons during the cemetery’s 2012 Halloween tours to raise funds for a gravestone for Howard, who according to some historians was the inspiration for the character Belle Watling in Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind”.
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