To Remember considers the various types of grief, loss, and love across cultures. This exhibit shows many different forms of remembrance including burial and funeral practices, memorial anniversaries, cemetery maps, and genealogy research. “To Remember” features photo, video, oral history, and digital map content to describe how cultural traditions help us hold the space for grief and loss.

Included are articles by Dr. Emilio Zamora on Mexican artist Alberto Fuster, an article by Caitlin Hill on the history of burials, an article by Sarah Wambold about creating burial grounds to preserve land. Videos include presentations by Alan García and Diana Hernández originally presented in October 2020 at the Politics Necropolis Symposium. GIS specialist Ryan Piper used Texas Historical Commission’s cemetery GIS data to create an interactive searchable map of cemeteries in Travis County, Texas that includes layers for African American, Mexican American, European American, and Jewish Cemeteries.

Oakwood Cemetery is in the heart of Austin. When it was established in 1839, it was on the outskirts of a 1.5 square mile frontier town. The cemetery holds the namesakes of many Austin buildings, streets, and beloved parks. The final resting place for more than 23,000 people, Oakwood Cemetery remains an enduring link to the community, cultures, and life stories that built the great city just beyond its gates.

The Oakwood Cemetery Chapel was built in 1914, 75 years after the cemetery was established, to host funeral and memorial services on site. Reopened in 2019, the Chapel is a visitor center where we can, as an act of remembrance, learn about our cultural heritage through the people who were buried in the surrounding cemetery. The Chapel is part of the Museums and Cultural Programs Division of the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Austin.

Oakwood Cemetery Chapel's digital history exhibits are published here: www.austintexas.gov/page/oakwood-cemetery-chapel-resources