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S earch the web for things to do in Harrisburg and you will find the typical list of "Harrisburg-y" possibilities: tour the Capitol, visit the National Civil War Museum, ride the Pride. However, No. 24 on the list of 30 offers an unexpected option— visit Harrisburg Cemetery. A cemetery as a tourist attraction? I couldn't resist. Cemeteries meet the interests of a number of groups, especially history buffs. With a cemetery visit, you get the collective history of those buried there, the history of art used to commemorate their lives, and the history of wars or struggles in which they participated. "So many interesting stories, that's the way it is, though— all the old cemeteries, they have a story to tell," said Barbara Barksdale, co-chairwoman of the Pennsylvania Hallowed Grounds Project and president of Friends of Midland, a non-profit that cares for the predominantly African-American Midland Cemetery in Steelton. "e history is just crazy in cemeteries around here." Some of those stories are individual, such as Herbert "Rap" Dixon, who, in 1930, became the first black man to hit a home run in Yankee Stadium. en there's Lemuel Butler, born in Harrisburg in 1844, a teamster who served with the U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War. Other stories are broader. Looking at the dates on the stones, it's clear that some of those buried in Midland were slaves or freed slaves who mostly likely worked on the farm where the cemetery now sits. Midland is also the resting place of veterans of numerous storied African- American military groups, including the Buffalo Soldiers, the U.S. Colored Troops, Montford Point Marines and the Tuskegee Airmen. "I want people to go away with—it's more than a headstone," said Barksdale, who gives tours of the cemetery. LoCAL NoTABLeS Harrisburg Cemetery, listed in the National Registry of Historic Places, holds local and national history, as well. In the walking tour, David Via, superintendent of the cemetery, pointed out the governors, soldiers and local people of interest buried there. Names like Berryhill, Calder, Cameron and Kelker, among many others, read like the street signs of Harrisburg. "e Walking Tour Guide of Harrisburg Cemetery," available at the caretaker's house at the entrance to the cemetery, provides information on those buried there, as well as other intriguing aspects of the place. Via said that 155 Civil War soldiers are buried in the cemetery and pointed out that the simple, white tombstones differ. e monuments for the Union soldiers have rounded tops, while the Confederate soldiers have pointed tops. "Supposedly, so the damn Yankees couldn't sit on them," Via said of the Confederate stones. Veterans of the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War and the Civil War are all represented in the cemetery. Down the highway a bit, the Old Public Graveyard in Carlisle holds the remains of 53 Revolutionary War soldiers, including Molly Pitcher, the famous female fighter and heroine. Her monument is one of the larger ones in the graveyard. A guide mentions that the oldest marker is from 1757 and that the cemetery is the final resting place of a Civil War drummer boy and of Judge Frederick Watts, president of the Cumberland Valley Railroad, a U.S. Commissioner of Agriculture and a person "instrumental in the founding of Penn State." a CeMeTery sWinG e region's historic graveyards offer a fascinating take on the past. By SuSAN ryDer Harrisburg Cemetery

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