Savannah’s Bonaventure Cemetery: A Reflection of Southern Culture Gone With The Wind

Abstract

The Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia is one of the South’s most culturally significant and visually impressive cemeteries. Founded in 1846 and still in operation today, it is one of the most visited of the U.S.’ Victorian era cemeteries, and a significant tourist attraction of the city.

Bonaventure also is an important site for American popular culture. Most famous from its role in the “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” it also holds the remains of other important local and national cultural figures including songwriter Johnny Mercer, author Conrad Aiken, colonial founders of the colony of Georgia, and Confederate military leaders.

Through an examination of the cemetery’s historic role, its visual representations, and role in local and national culture, I will argue in my presentation that Bonaventure has become a bridge between the Old South and contemporary popular culture. It is a symbol of a South that has “gone with the wind,” yet Bonaventure Cemetery remains alive and evocative today.