Cemetery Walk Continues Tradition While Sharing History

Jeremy Hartl portrayed passed Oskaloosa resident Marquis Barr during the annual Teen Advisory Board Cemetery Walk.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The yearly tradition continued on Sunday with the Oskaloosa Library Teen Advisory Board holding its annual cemetery walk.

“The Teen Advisory Board Members researched individuals who are buried in the cemetery here,” said Oskaloosa Library Director William Ottens. The teens get assistance from local historian John Jacobs, who scours old newspaper records for prospective residents to portray.

This years walk worked in conjunction with the Mahaska Reads program and their book selection of ‘Twelve Years a Slave’ by Solomon Northup. With that in mind, the history lesson was provided by the teens along the tour. This years focus looked for Oskaloosa residents who were part of the community in the Pre-Civil War time.

For the Mahaska Reads program, Ottens said, “We’ve encouraged everyone in Mahaska County and the City to read ‘Twelve Years a Slave’. So to go along with the same themes, we went with the Civil War time period for the residents.”

Attendees in a group followed Ottens on a tour of the cemetery, visiting each teen as they portrayed a resident from Oskaloosa’s history.

Jeremy Hartl portrayed passed Oskaloosa resident Marquis Barr during the walk. Hartl took the published obituary and followed that up with some other research to learn more about Barr, in an attempt to better portray the Oskaloosa resident.

Hartl, who enjoys some history, said he enjoyed portraying Barr. “I learned some stuff about Mahaska and the way of life back in the day. It’s not always been this way.”