Forest Home Cemetery Inc

I purchased a headstone for my mother, who passed 17 years ago, the young sales associate (I forgot her name), helped me customize something for my mom that was super nice and affordable. Only problem is that I wasn’t called when it was placed and when I went to visit my mom’s site I couldn’t find the plot. When I called the front desk, the young lady was unable to instruct me on how the cemetery was laid out.

Thanks to everyone that participated in the Tale of the Tombstone event. It turned out to be a very nice day.

Tour for the month of October. Now, I have toured others cemetery’s around the world, but this was an exceptionally nice one. You see, at each station of the tour, there is someone who is representing the dead. Meaning for example, at one part of the cemetery there is a famous Murderess of the early 1900’s who is supposed to of killed all her suitors, foster children and even family members to collect insurance. Well the woman who was at the grave site represented that woman buried there and talked about how she was «falsely» accused of these murders and that when she died of a hanging but was unjustly accused. The whole scenario is quite interesting. It gives you a different perspective on graves and if this could go on in other cemeteries than wow, we are really going to learn alot more then many can imagine.
The whole cemetery is really nice and holds Indian burial grounds, and the day I was there, on a new part of the cemetery called «La virgin de Guadalupe» section towards the South of the entrance, there was a Mexican Mariachi playing (loud band music) as a send off to a person who just passed away. Although I am not too keen on this, hey, it works for others. I just think that a cemetery should be peaceful and calm and not so much like a cantina (saloon).
The mausoleums are wonderful and there is even one that is empty. (And I proved this by taking photos of the underground part of it). The story goes that the owner had it built for his family but after it was built, he never returned for it and to date it is empty. Very macabre but beautiful none the less.

This is a really cool cemetery and one of the most unique I’ve seen by far.
Originally two separate cemeteries –Forest Home and German Walkheim — now merged into one, Forest Home Cemetery, is a public place created for a very specifiic purpose.
Forest home is a final resting place for Native Americans, early settlers, evangelists, gypsies, labor activists, disaster victims, and noted leaders in the medicine, the arts, business, and transportation.
I head here every October for the annual cemetery walk provided by the Oak Park Historical Society.
I would definitely check it out if you want to learn more about the area.

An expansive cemetery that is bounded by 1^st Ave. and DesPlaines on the west and east, and the Eisenhower and Roosevelt Rd. on the north and south, Forest Home is a fascinating place for those interested in local immigrant/​ethnic history, architecture, and the history of the American labor movement.
Most of the cemeteries established in the late 1800s, as Forest Home was, were restricted in regard to religion and/​or ethnicity. Since Forest Home wasn’t, it provided a resting place for immigrant groups from all over the Chicago area. Even a short walk through the monuments provides an interesting perspective on local immigration patterns dating back to the post-​Fire era when the city experienced dramatic population growth. Because the cemetery was founded so long ago, architecture enthusiasts can find examples of the major American movements of the past century executed in the monuments and mausoleums.
Visible from Des Plaines Ave. is what is, in many people’s opinion, the only true monument to the Haymarket Martyrs, who are buried here. A bronze figure of Justice places a wreath on the head of a fallen worker while reaching to draw her sword. A plaque on the back of the monument commemorates the pardon given to the Martyrs’ surviving comrades in the struggle for the eight-​hour day. The memorial became such a sacred place to other members of the movements for workers’ rights and social justice that many other prominent figures chose to be buried alongside the Martyrs, including Emma Goldman, Lucy Parsons, William Haywood, and Joe Hill, whose ashes were scattered here.