On September 16,
2019 the amazing Ruth Miller visited
my Beyond the Grave class! Miller is known as a
public historian and storyteller. Sharing her discoveries as a tour guide and
public speaker, Miller is a certified tour guide for the City of Charleston. She wrote about 7
to 8 books and she mentions that “Winners write history books.” You can find some
of her books here
on her website and to learn more about her as well as what she does around the
city of Charleston.
While Miller talked to my class, I learned and discovered many
different things about the city of Charleston that I would have never even
imagined here. Hearing about and learning about the different graves and
historical events that took place here in Charleston is beyond measures.
One thing that really stuck out to me that Miller mentioned was
that “Charleston
is the richest city in Colonial America”. Hundreds of people a day come to
the city of Charleston for tours around the city. They get a chance to learn
about the many different historical events that happened here and see many amazing
historic markers around the city.
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| Here I am with the fabulous Ruth Miller. My wrist band stuck out to her as it said "Long Live Keeron" who was a good friend of mine who passed away in a car accident. She said back in the day, they did things such as have memorial wrist bands also but in a different form. She is also holding a wrist band of sort in the memory of someone else. |
Being that we
learn about graveyards and cemeteries in my Beyond the Grave class. She talked
mostly about the different tombstones and what they meant and the reason why
some of the cemeteries were they way that they are. She stated that “only the rich
people had tombstones” and she also mentioned that “what you see in a graveyard
is just as important as what you don’t see in a graveyard.” The reason we have so
many graveyards is because of freedom of religion.
In the city of
Charleston, and even all over, bodies are everywhere and we’re walking on them.
Miller taught us a lot in just one class session. Being able to have her
present within the classroom meant a lot and we were very thankful to have her
and for her to give us such insight on the things that happened in the world we’re
living in today!
