February 24, 2025 • 27 mins
In this episode of The Front Page, podcast host Carmen Olekas and managing editor Jesse Wood to discuss her story in the Red & Black's February Paper.
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Carmen Olekas (00:05):
Hidden beneath the towering trees of East
Athens, where the moss drapeslike whispers of the past, lies
Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery, aresting place for over 3,500
black Athenians, many of whomhistory has almost forgotten.
Business owners, teachers,artists, cooks, some with
headstones but many without,each with a story that has
shaped this city. But this isn'tjust a story about the past.
(00:27):
It's a story about memory, aboutwhat we choose to preserve and
what we let fade. This month,I'm sitting down with Jesse
Wood, Red and Black's managingeditor, to talk about her deep
dive into gospel Pilgrim'shistory, the research, the
roadblocks, the interviews, andthe unexpected twist that
brought this story to life inour paper.
What does it take to uncover ahistory that's been buried,
sometimes literally? And how doyou turn that into a story worth
(00:50):
reading? Stay with us. This isThe Front Page. I'm your host,
Carmen Alikas.
Welcome back to The Front Page.I am joined today by Jesse Wood,
and we will be talking about herstory in the February paper,
(01:10):
Gone But Not Forgotten. Jesse,welcome to the show.
Jesse Wood (01:13):
Hi. I'm Jesse. I'm a senior journalism major at
University of Georgia, and I ammanaging editor at Thread in
Black. I've been here over twoyears. I started on the culture
desk, worked my way up toculture editor, and now I am
managing editor.
Carmen Olekas (01:27):
Before we get into the, like, details of the
story, let's talk about what thestory is if you wanna just give
a quick little rundown and thenwe can talk about why you
pitched it for paper in thefirst place.
Jesse Wood (01:40):
So with Black History Month, we really wanted
to do something that highlightedblack history in Athens. And I
went to a commemoration ofHarriet Powers. They made her a
new headstone at Gospel PilgrimCemetery in December 2023. And
going out there to the cemeterywas so revolutionary for me, I
(02:02):
guess. I was so I'd never reallybeen to East Athens, honestly,
which is a pretty underservedpart of the Athens community.
And seeing the cemetery, it'sjust very different than any
other cemetery I've seen. Like,I've been to, like, Arlington
or, like, the fancy ones inAtlanta, but this one is just
completely overgrown. There'sheadstones just, like, randomly
(02:24):
popping out of the ground hereand there. And I always think
going back and looking athistory and how it impacted
today and, like, why things lookthe way they do today is so
interesting. So, yeah, I justwanted to go back, dive a little
deeper into the cemetery, andtalk about Athens today.
Carmen Olekas (02:39):
You obviously you said you went in you said
December 23? Mhmm. That was thatthe moment that sparked interest
in the history of East Athens ingeneral, or is it something that
you remembered when we werestart talking about story
pitches? You're like, oh, thatcould be something topical for
Black History Month.
Jesse Wood (02:55):
I honestly hadn't really thought about it that
much until we were talking aboutpitches, and I was like, well,
this would be a good paperstory, and I do wanna write it.
Part of my mindset right now is,like, I have these, like, big
ideas, and it's my last semesterin college. I'm, like, I need to
see them through.
Linda Davis (03:11):
Yeah. I feel
Jesse Wood (03:12):
like I've just been kinda, like, maybe I'll get
around to it. You still have thetime. Class is getting crazy.
I've gotta go to work, but I'mjust kinda like, well, I've
always wanted to write it. Nowis the perfect time.
It's a story that needs to betold and I think I can do it
well.
Carmen Olekas (03:26):
If you were to do like the elevator pitch of just
like a super quick recap of whatthe story was and what will come
out in the paper. So it willhave come out by the time you're
listening to this a few daysago. If you could do just, like,
a really quick recap of what youfound and what you wrote about.
Jesse Wood (03:43):
The neglect of Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery is very
representative in the way thatAthens looks today in our
education systems, thesocioeconomic scene. There was
one thing that Linda Davis, oneof my sources said, and it's she
came back to Athens after 40.She's a black woman. She moved
away, came back after fortyyears, and Athens still looks
(04:05):
exactly the same.
Linda Davis (04:06):
I returned to Athens after being away for
almost thirty years, and thestate of our public education,
the state of our communities,the loss of the spaces that were
so integral to my growing up andmy becoming the person that I
am, the places that gave me asense of pride, a sense of
(04:29):
belonging, in a post segregationera here in Athens, they were
gone. And it was disturbing tome that it felt like I didn't
belong.
Carmen Olekas (04:43):
When you started looking into it as a bigger
piece that you wanted to do, didyou start with, like, a clear
direction or did the story kindof evolve as you learned about
the neglect and that kind ofthing?
Jesse Wood (04:55):
It definitely evolved. I started very broad. I
knew that I would just do thehistory of the cemetery at
least, and then talk about whatwas going on to, like, preserve
it or clean it up. And as I keptinterviewing people and looking
up stuff, I realized that a lotof the efforts dropped off
during COVID to clean it up andkeep it in good condition. So it
more became a piece about theneglect of the cemetery versus
(05:16):
the cemetery itself.
Carmen Olekas (05:18):
You mentioned in the piece that there was pieces
of information that were harderto get about the people that
have been residing in thecemetery versus the rich white
Southerners.
Linda Davis (05:30):
Mhmm.
Carmen Olekas (05:32):
Is there any pieces of information or sources
that you wanted to talk to thatyou just couldn't get through
because of there's so muchhistory there?
Jesse Wood (05:39):
Mhmm. I did wanna talk to Fred Smith. He's a black
historian in Athens. I reallywanted to interview him, but he
did get the flu. Hate fluseason.
There's a lady who runs Friendsof Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery and
they like clean it up, but shewas traveling. She doesn't live
in the state and foundinteresting because she's like
leading this effort effort toclean it up, but she's not here.
(06:01):
So
Carmen Olekas (06:01):
That is very interesting.
Jesse Wood (06:02):
Right? But, I kind of lost touch with her process.
She kind of ghosted me. But Iwould have loved to included
them because there is stuffbeing done and there are people
who care. It was just harder
Carmen Olekas (06:12):
to get them off the phone. Well, and also from
what it looked like in thepiece, obviously, it's a very
long spanning issue that most ofthe people who are, like, super
duper invested are people thatare older and maybe less
accessible. So I definitelycould see that. Was there an
interview that stood out to youor changed the way you thought
about the story slash how itwhere it was going Mhmm. Or the
(06:35):
focus?
Jesse Wood (06:36):
I my interview with Linda Davis was insane. She runs
Friends of the BrooklynCemetery, which is, like, right
down the road. I was blown awayby her interview. She started
talking to me about how theywere gonna build a playground on
top of the cemetery. And shestepped in, and now it's this
amazing project where they'vespent twelve years cleaning it
(06:57):
up.
Linda Davis (06:58):
I was retiring from my thirty eight year career in
in telecommunications, and mybrother and Carl Scott, who was
a seventh grade, science teacherat Park Middle School, We're
having a conversation aboutconcerns, from his neighbors
because he lived in thatneighborhood looking for a place
for a playground. Mhmm. And theywere looking at the cemetery.
(07:22):
And so he had this conversationwith my brother, and they've
been friends sincedesegregation, back in the
sixties. I'd say around '65 orso.
Mhmm. And my brother said, well,Linda's retiring, and she'll be
moving back to Athens. And Ithink she would be a great
person to talk to about this.
Jesse Wood (07:40):
She said they removed, like, 12 tons of stuff
from the cemetery, and theycould discover new people and
make new changes and revelationsand found out who's actually
buried there. And she talkedabout how she knew some of the
people buried there, like hergrandparents Mhmm. Or her former
classmates. And I think heradding that, like, human element
of, I know these people. I'mconnected to them.
(08:01):
And then she also talked aboutgrowing up in Athens after
desegregation because she isthree generations away from
slavery. Oh, wow. I know. Ithink it just put in perspective
for me that we're not as farfrom the past as we like to
think.
Carmen Olekas (08:15):
Oh, absolutely.
Jesse Wood (08:16):
Right? And I just there's no way that I can even
comprehend, like, what Athensmust be like for someone like
her.
Carmen Olekas (08:22):
I also think at I was gonna say uniquely, but not
uniquely. Athens is so there'ssuch a rich history that rich in
not a good way of, like, there'sthere's a lot that happened here
that is still being undone,like, with the renaming
Cloverhurst, and they've renamedit to Linnetown to pay tribute
to the people who lost theirhomes to build Russell Homes.
(08:44):
Yeah. Creswell. Creswell.
So there's there's so much goingon, and I think there's a lot of
focus on trying to bring lightto that. But like you said, the
three generations from slavery,that's mind blowing.
Jesse Wood (08:56):
It was crazy. And just to hear her, like, talk
about that Well, then it's alsojust
Carmen Olekas (09:01):
you don't think I mean, you obviously think about
it, but then you really thinkabout it in terms of, like, time
frame, and it's, like, oh, we'renot actually that far from what
was happening. Every in-depthstory like this comes with with
certain challenges. What was thehardest part in reporting this
piece for you?
Jesse Wood (09:17):
I think it's hard for me because, like, who am I
to tell this story almost? It'slike I'm a white woman in
college, and I'm blessed withopportunities. And I have
parents, and I have a supportsystem. And there's people who
don't have that that I talked toor learned about through the
story. And there's people who,like, they don't even have a
(09:39):
name on their headstone or theydon't even know who they are in
the ground.
Carmen Olekas (09:43):
Most of them.
Jesse Wood (09:44):
Yeah. And I just, I guess it was hard for me to kind
of find my role in this, but Ihope I did it well. I I love
telling this story, and I just Imean just kinda like weird
vomited everywhere.
Carmen Olekas (09:57):
No. I think I I I definitely know what you mean.
It's like, why are you writingit versus someone who's might
have a little bit more dog inthe fight, I guess. But, I mean,
not talking about it was part ofthe problem. Yeah.
Very true. So we move on, and Ithink working through that
imposter syndrome with a storylike that is important because
it's also, like, well, if youwere to only write about white
(10:19):
girl college girl things,
Jesse Wood (10:20):
it would be like, well Yeah.
Carmen Olekas (10:22):
That's not that's not the reporting we're doing
there. At the Red and Black, thepaper is it's a different kind
of platform than our regularonline content. It's more long
form, it's more serious, alittle bit more storytelling y.
Y. How did writing this forprint change the way you
approached writing it, if thatmakes sense?
(10:43):
Like how did you what were youkeeping in mind that you don't
normally pay attention to whenyou're just writing for the
website? I think one of
Jesse Wood (10:52):
my favorite things about print is the way that all
of the elements come together onthe page to, like, create the
story. It's not just print ornot just words. It's not just
pictures. It's, like, all of ittogether. And it's also much
more condensed because you haveto be under a certain word
limit.
So I think knowing what I wantedto say and how I wanted to say
(11:13):
it was very important in this. Iknew what kind of pictures I
wanted. I knew what pull quote Iwanted, and I knew what quotes I
wanted to include before I evenstarted writing it.
Carmen Olekas (11:22):
Mhmm.
Linda Davis (11:23):
So
Jesse Wood (11:23):
I think just having it in mind was before I even
started putting everythingtogether was definitely
different, and I just had somuch information to work
through. I interviewed three orfour people. I think four. And
then I had so many websites, somany books, so so many
everything.
Carmen Olekas (11:42):
I was explaining it to my mother, and she didn't
get it. She was like, the papercomes out all the time. And I
was like, no. It's it's not likethe newspaper. It's like it's
like an honored place.
It's not we're not putting ourweekly updates and stuff in
there. It's it's definitely aplace that the more impactful
deeper stories go. So, I mean, Ithink it's also with a story
(12:04):
like this, you don't wannacheapen it by removing parts to
make it fit. So it's yeah. I candefinitely see how that would
come.
You know?
Jesse Wood (12:13):
I hope that being in print, it reaches more people
too. Like, people who maybe nothave don't have access to, like,
Internet. Oh, absolutely. Iwould hope that they would get
something from the story aswell.
Linda Davis (12:26):
That's a
Carmen Olekas (12:26):
good point, actually. I didn't even think
about that in terms of, like,probably the people who would be
most benefited by learning thatthis story is being told aren't
in the email list. Yeah. Sothey're they're not they're not
clocked in like that. So thatthat is a good point also that I
hadn't considered before.
(12:47):
Okay. Moving on to the storyitself. It's it's a story about,
you know, preservation andmemory and loss, and reading it
was a very emotional experience.You know, you're reading and
you're like, wow. You'relearning things and it's like we
live here, how did we not knowthat?
How did writing it and speakingto all these people and getting
(13:07):
such a influx of informationaffect you emotionally and how
did you work through that?Because it's a very emotional
piece. Like, I you can feel itwhen you read it.
Jesse Wood (13:16):
I don't think I realized how much it was
affecting me until I startedwriting it. I sat down at a
coffee shop, and it took me,like, four hours to get this
together. Just because I had tokeep stopping and, like, being
like, okay. I need to, like,take a step back and Yeah. Not
not do this for a minute.
Just get my mind off of it. ButI think comparing it to what
(13:37):
these people have gone throughthat I just couldn't even begin
to understand really, like,motivated me to keep going and,
like, get this story done. Ifeel like I owe it to the people
Carmen Olekas (13:49):
Wait. Why am I, like, emotional? I mean, it's
it's the journalistic dutySorry. To tell the stories. It's
it's our job.
Jesse Wood (13:55):
I feel like I owe it to the people who don't have
grave markers, and they're notburied with their families or
their families don't know wherethey are.
Carmen Olekas (14:04):
Oh, that's a big one.
Jesse Wood (14:05):
Yeah. So I think that kinda taking myself out of
situation and know that I wasdoing it for something bigger
than me helped me get throughit.
Carmen Olekas (14:13):
Absolutely. With an emotional connection, I I
feel like every journalist goesthrough, like, their
penultimate, like, this is thefirst time you ever feel, like,
actually, like, connected andattached to a piece that you've
worked on, whether it goes outor not. Mine never got
published. So but how do youbalance, like, the emotional
connection part, the part thatreally holds a lot of, not love,
(14:36):
but a lot of appreciation forthe role that you're playing in
that story with also yourpromise to be objective and
uphold the journalistic, youknow, tenants that we write
with. How do you how do you workwith that in a story like this?
Jesse Wood (14:51):
I feel like it's easy for me to balance because
my way of showing that I care isby doing my journalistic duty,
if that makes sense. Like,making sure everything is right.
All the names are spelledcorrectly. All the facts are
relevant and important, and justbeing mindful with the way I'm
phrasing things.
Linda Davis (15:08):
Mhmm.
Jesse Wood (15:08):
I feel like it's my way of showing I do care. And
this means a lot to me and I'mnot going to hurt my trust with
the people I talk to. I'm notgonna hurt my trust with the
audience. Like, I'm gonnadeliver a good journalistic
piece because I care.
Carmen Olekas (15:22):
And it wasn't done before. Like, that the
whole point is, like, therewasn't people paying attention
and bringing it out and doingthat. So it's a labor of love.
Yeah. You mentioned the accuracypart With a story like this,
that is really, like, groundedand rooted in it not being
accurate and no one caringenough to write it all down and
(15:44):
make sure that they were namedand just have any sort of care
towards the people that werebeing interred there.
What steps did you take to makesure that everything was really,
really, really correct? And wasthere anything that you came
across that you felt was like animportant piece, but you really
couldn't identify or verify to,you know, enough to be able to
(16:05):
put it into the article.
Jesse Wood (16:06):
I it was hard for me to find a lot of information
that was newer. So I thinkasking my sources for
clarification was the best wayto find things. I talked to a
lot of people and I just askedthem, like, very basically.
Okay. Well, I found this.
Like, is this right? Can yougive me more information? Who
can I talk to? Where can I look?The Athens death project was
(16:28):
really helpful.
They had a ton of informationabout the people buried there,
the cemetery itself. So I usedthem a lot. And then I talked to
someone who helped lead theproject. Mhmm. And she had a lot
of information.
We stayed on the phone and Iwas, like, going through my list
of, like, is this right? Is thisright? Is this still true? What
do you think about this? So
Carmen Olekas (16:47):
One thing about, like, specifically black history
in the South is that it's alwaysgonna be kind of up in the air.
Like, there's just things wecan't recover as be you know,
because nobody was payingattention when it was supposed
to be recorded. I thinkword-of-mouth is important, but
I also think it makes what,like, we put out more important
(17:11):
because as you mentioned, thepeople you talked to were older.
They are. They've moved away.
They're not they're not asphysically here. They have
family outside, like, Athensisn't what it used to be for
them. So making sure that whilewe still have the chance to get
it on paper and memorialize itin a way that we can we weren't
doing before. I think it's veryimportant. When you were working
(17:34):
on this piece, was theresomething that surprised you?
Was there something that, youknow, maybe challenged something
that you had already thought, orsomething that just completely
took you by surprise when youwere looking?
Jesse Wood (17:46):
I'm very surprised with how this depression of
black communities in Athens wasjust not that long ago. Yeah.
Linda Davis (17:53):
And
Jesse Wood (17:53):
it still happens today. And I think it was
surprising for me to, like, finda link between this black
cemetery on the other side ofAthens with the way that I view
Athens today and, like, theissues that I see in Athens
today. I just I wasn't expectingthis piece to, like, turn into
that. But Yeah. Linda Davis madethat connection.
(18:15):
I was like, Linda, you are sosmart.
Linda Davis (18:20):
I can remember growing up here and having a I
call it my safe pattern. I stilltalk about my safe path to
travel Athens, and I talk aboutgoing on streets that are right
in my neighborhood that I neverwould venture to go down because
of the segregation and the fearof what could happen with no
(18:43):
retribution, to anyone doingharm to black children or black
people. I have all of thosethings that I carry with me. I
think of the, fear that waspretty much a thing that kept
kept kept most of us in check, Iwould say, my friends anyway,
(19:03):
around just the fact that wedidn't have any protections
here. Yeah.
So a lot of that was imagined. Alot of that was real. A lot of
it was based on, again, thetools that people use to
control. And everybody didn'tsuccumb to that. I certainly did
because I just didn't wanna goto jail.
(19:24):
I didn't wanna get in trouble,and I'm allowed to do so.
Carmen Olekas (19:27):
Mhmm.
Linda Davis (19:27):
And so that that's essentially how I was raised to
not necessarily fear, but tostay out of harm's way Mhmm.
Picking up as much as I can. Ithink that's still true in
Athens today.
Jesse Wood (19:41):
She is so smart, and her perspective is just so
amazing. She's just so full oflife and love and
Carmen Olekas (19:47):
That's wonderful.
Jesse Wood (19:48):
I loved her. But I think I was just surprised that
that connection was made, and Iwas also surprised I didn't see
it.
Carmen Olekas (19:55):
When you go back to going back to what we talked
about before of, like, like, whoam I or who are you to Who are
we? Who are we to be writingabout this? But we wouldn't
think about it. Mhmm. Like, it'snot it's just not something that
is, like, that obvious whenyou're born with the privilege
that we have been blessed with.
And I I think issues like thisare very lucky to have people
(20:18):
like Linda keeping it alive andmaking sure that the people know
and the people can can realize,you know, history repeats
itself, and we're not thatseparated from what was
happening. Because I also feellike the way we're taught about
slavery and, like, theantebellum South is what in,
like, high school andeverything, it feels very old
and timey. It feels very faraway and distant, but it really
(20:41):
wasn't that long ago, and it'snot that different than it is
now. So, I mean, we're doingdoing the good doing the good
work.
Jesse Wood (20:47):
Yeah. I just don't think that black history is
adequately taught. I feel likeI've learned Not
Carmen Olekas (20:52):
at all.
Jesse Wood (20:52):
Yeah. I've learned more from talking to people like
Linda than I have in school. SoI think it was just so
interesting hearing the livedexperiences of people who were
going through that time periodand still carry that with them
today. I think was just mindblowing.
Carmen Olekas (21:07):
Yeah. Black history education is just eons
Yeah. Eons behind what it shouldbe. And it's because it's also,
like, I feel like this mighthave just been, like, what I was
taught, but it's not notentirely related. But, like, you
know how we were always taughtthat, like, the Indians taught
the white settlers how to growcorn, like that didn't happen.
Yeah. That didn't it's like avery nice polished picture of
(21:30):
what history might have lookedlike, but it just didn't happen,
and I feel like that that kindof gloss was put over the very
few black history lessons I everhad in high high school. A push,
all of that stuff. It wasn'treally a focus. And if it was
talked about, it was kind ofpolished up and made to look all
nice.
And then when you talk to thepeople who actually were part of
(21:51):
it, then it's like, oh, Wait.
Jesse Wood (21:52):
That was not true.
Carmen Olekas (21:53):
Oh, no. Yeah.
Jesse Wood (21:54):
I feel like history has just stopped and, like,
recorded properly. I feel likethere's always a way Oh, yeah.
To one side. And doing stufflike this really opens my eyes,
and it makes me feel so guiltyfor not even one. You know?
How did I miss this? How did Inot know this?
Carmen Olekas (22:09):
Especially because it feels so obvious.
Those facts were withheld, soit's like feeling guilty and
having imposter syndrome aboutwriting an article like this is
all well and good, but itdoesn't really help anybody. And
then also, it's like every timeI've talked to someone or, you
know, had something that Ilearned learned that it wasn't
how I was taught or whatever,the person that was teaching me
(22:32):
was never like, oh my god, Ican't believe you didn't know
that. It's like, well, yeah, youwouldn't. So, you know, it's
different, but I'm glad I'm gladthat you and Linda and
everybody's getting the storyout.
After spending so much time onthe story, what do you hope
readers take away from it andmove on with
Jesse Wood (22:47):
it? Mhmm. I hope that I let's start conversations
in Athens about what more can bedone to acknowledge black
history. And I think that's juststarting point we need to, like,
make the changes necessary inAthens and just all over the
South. I'm from Monroe and thelast lynching in The United
(23:09):
States was in Monroe.
Oh, wow. I didn't know that.Yeah. The Morse word lynching
and this is unrelated. I saw adocumentary.
My friend's mom made it,Stephanie Calabrese. It's called
Unspoken. Plug. It's amazing.But she basically kind of did
what I did.
And she, like, did thisinvestigative piece, talked to
(23:29):
so many people in Monroe. Shetalked to people who remember
the Moores Ford lynching, and itcompletely changed my
perspective on my hometown. ButI think in a good way because I
feel more educated about where Ilive, the people around me, what
happened. You know? It just Idon't know.
It was like, well, now I knowmore, And I think that's a good
(23:50):
thing.
Carmen Olekas (23:51):
It is like a thing.
Jesse Wood (23:52):
People know more about Athens and its history and
how history creates impacts thefuture so directly.
Carmen Olekas (24:00):
Absolutely. It's funny that or not funny. Not
funny at all, actually, that youmentioned Monroe. I have a
friend who lives there, and Iwould drive through there. And I
every single time I had to drivepast the Confederate Memorial
and, like, the torch.
And every time I'm like, wow.Wow. If you don't know what I'm
talking about, Walton County hasa very contentious statue in,
(24:21):
like, the town square,basically. It's, like, in the
middle of Main Street.
Jesse Wood (24:24):
Like city
Carmen Olekas (24:24):
people. Yeah. It's in the middle of, like, the
only the only cities under thatMonroe has. And there's a statue
of a Confederate soldier, andit's not even like a just a
soldier that kind of looks likea Confederate soldier. Like, it
it says like two areConfederates on the bottom.
Yeah.
Jesse Wood (24:40):
And he's like in his Confederate soldier uniform.
Carmen Olekas (24:42):
Yeah. He's he's all dressed up, and there's this
torch that never goes out, andit is burning in memory of all
of the fallen Confederatesoldiers. And it's, like, it's
on fire, like, right now as wespeak. And that's forty five
minutes away. So Yeah.
There's a lot to think about.This story might feel very
central to Athens, but it's astory that is so I think you
(25:05):
would find to be so common inthis area that we live in. In
this southern part of The US,there has to be so many graves
that are that have gone unmarkedand whose families will never
know that they're there. So Ireally think that the work
that's being done by the Athensdeath project and all that stuff
(25:27):
is very important, and gettingthe word out will not only
educate the people that are inAthens, but also you can apply
it to what's happening all overThe United States.
Jesse Wood (25:38):
Can I talk about the cover? Please. Okay. So, I went
to the cemetery and I took thisphoto as like a, okay, this is
what it looks like. I'll knowthis, like, keep this in mind
when I'm recording.
And I never thought it would beon the cover.
Carmen Olekas (25:54):
That's a great photo.
Jesse Wood (25:55):
Thank you. But we had a lot of debate over how
empty the picture is almost, butI hope people know that it adds
to the story. It's veryrepresentative of
Carmen Olekas (26:05):
I was gonna say.
Jesse Wood (26:06):
Yeah. But the story is.
Carmen Olekas (26:08):
It's about an empty or seemingly empty Yeah.
You know, cemetery. I think Ithink it's very it's very
important. And, obviously, ifyou don't know what we're
talking about, go find a paperand
Jesse Wood (26:21):
Go find a paper.
Carmen Olekas (26:22):
You'll you'll see what we mean. If you are in the
Athens area at any point in thenear future, check out we have
we have boxes everywhere. Pickup a paper, read it. There's
aside from Jesse's article,there are many fantastic things.
This edition, I was reading itearlier.
It's wonderful. I just I'm inawe of the work that goes into
the paper every month. Sodefinitely check it out, and
(26:44):
this podcast will be a oncemonthly podcast, so we will do
it around the same time that thepaper comes out. So definitely
check back in and grab a paperso that you can see obviously
what we are talking about. Butabsolutely read up on the story.
It was really beautiful. I feltvery emotional when reading it.
Jesse cried talking about it, soit's definitely a good read, and
(27:08):
I will I will see you all nextmonth. Bye. Bye.
This has been the front page.The front page is a production
of the Red and Black PublishingCompany. Make sure to download
our app and keep up with us onsocial media. And we hope to see
you again next time. Support forthis podcast comes from the Cox
Institute of JournalismInnovation, Management and
(27:30):
Leadership.
For more information, visituga.edu/coxinstitute.
Hidden beneath the towering trees of East
Athens, where the moss drapeslike whispers of the past, lies
Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery, aresting place for over 3,500
black Athenians, many of whomhistory has almost forgotten.
Business owners, teachers,artists, cooks, some with
headstones but many without,each with a story that has
shaped this city. But this isn'tjust a story about the past.
(00:27):
It's a story about memory, aboutwhat we choose to preserve and
what we let fade. This month,I'm sitting down with Jesse
Wood, Red and Black's managingeditor, to talk about her deep
dive into gospel Pilgrim'shistory, the research, the
roadblocks, the interviews, andthe unexpected twist that
brought this story to life inour paper.
What does it take to uncover ahistory that's been buried,
sometimes literally? And how doyou turn that into a story worth
(00:50):
reading? Stay with us. This isThe Front Page. I'm your host,
Carmen Alikas.
Welcome back to The Front Page.I am joined today by Jesse Wood,
and we will be talking about herstory in the February paper,
(01:10):
Gone But Not Forgotten. Jesse,welcome to the show.
Jesse Wood (01:13):
Hi. I'm Jesse. I'm a senior journalism major at
University of Georgia, and I ammanaging editor at Thread in
Black. I've been here over twoyears. I started on the culture
desk, worked my way up toculture editor, and now I am
managing editor.
Carmen Olekas (01:27):
Before we get into the, like, details of the
story, let's talk about what thestory is if you wanna just give
a quick little rundown and thenwe can talk about why you
pitched it for paper in thefirst place.
Jesse Wood (01:40):
So with Black History Month, we really wanted
to do something that highlightedblack history in Athens. And I
went to a commemoration ofHarriet Powers. They made her a
new headstone at Gospel PilgrimCemetery in December 2023. And
going out there to the cemeterywas so revolutionary for me, I
(02:02):
guess. I was so I'd never reallybeen to East Athens, honestly,
which is a pretty underservedpart of the Athens community.
And seeing the cemetery, it'sjust very different than any
other cemetery I've seen. Like,I've been to, like, Arlington
or, like, the fancy ones inAtlanta, but this one is just
completely overgrown. There'sheadstones just, like, randomly
(02:24):
popping out of the ground hereand there. And I always think
going back and looking athistory and how it impacted
today and, like, why things lookthe way they do today is so
interesting. So, yeah, I justwanted to go back, dive a little
deeper into the cemetery, andtalk about Athens today.
Carmen Olekas (02:39):
You obviously you said you went in you said
December 23? Mhmm. That was thatthe moment that sparked interest
in the history of East Athens ingeneral, or is it something that
you remembered when we werestart talking about story
pitches? You're like, oh, thatcould be something topical for
Black History Month.
Jesse Wood (02:55):
I honestly hadn't really thought about it that
much until we were talking aboutpitches, and I was like, well,
this would be a good paperstory, and I do wanna write it.
Part of my mindset right now is,like, I have these, like, big
ideas, and it's my last semesterin college. I'm, like, I need to
see them through.
Linda Davis (03:11):
Yeah. I feel
Jesse Wood (03:12):
like I've just been kinda, like, maybe I'll get
around to it. You still have thetime. Class is getting crazy.
I've gotta go to work, but I'mjust kinda like, well, I've
always wanted to write it. Nowis the perfect time.
It's a story that needs to betold and I think I can do it
well.
Carmen Olekas (03:26):
If you were to do like the elevator pitch of just
like a super quick recap of whatthe story was and what will come
out in the paper. So it willhave come out by the time you're
listening to this a few daysago. If you could do just, like,
a really quick recap of what youfound and what you wrote about.
Jesse Wood (03:43):
The neglect of Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery is very
representative in the way thatAthens looks today in our
education systems, thesocioeconomic scene. There was
one thing that Linda Davis, oneof my sources said, and it's she
came back to Athens after 40.She's a black woman. She moved
away, came back after fortyyears, and Athens still looks
(04:05):
exactly the same.
Linda Davis (04:06):
I returned to Athens after being away for
almost thirty years, and thestate of our public education,
the state of our communities,the loss of the spaces that were
so integral to my growing up andmy becoming the person that I
am, the places that gave me asense of pride, a sense of
(04:29):
belonging, in a post segregationera here in Athens, they were
gone. And it was disturbing tome that it felt like I didn't
belong.
Carmen Olekas (04:43):
When you started looking into it as a bigger
piece that you wanted to do, didyou start with, like, a clear
direction or did the story kindof evolve as you learned about
the neglect and that kind ofthing?
Jesse Wood (04:55):
It definitely evolved. I started very broad. I
knew that I would just do thehistory of the cemetery at
least, and then talk about whatwas going on to, like, preserve
it or clean it up. And as I keptinterviewing people and looking
up stuff, I realized that a lotof the efforts dropped off
during COVID to clean it up andkeep it in good condition. So it
more became a piece about theneglect of the cemetery versus
(05:16):
the cemetery itself.
Carmen Olekas (05:18):
You mentioned in the piece that there was pieces
of information that were harderto get about the people that
have been residing in thecemetery versus the rich white
Southerners.
Linda Davis (05:30):
Mhmm.
Carmen Olekas (05:32):
Is there any pieces of information or sources
that you wanted to talk to thatyou just couldn't get through
because of there's so muchhistory there?
Jesse Wood (05:39):
Mhmm. I did wanna talk to Fred Smith. He's a black
historian in Athens. I reallywanted to interview him, but he
did get the flu. Hate fluseason.
There's a lady who runs Friendsof Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery and
they like clean it up, but shewas traveling. She doesn't live
in the state and foundinteresting because she's like
leading this effort effort toclean it up, but she's not here.
(06:01):
So
Carmen Olekas (06:01):
That is very interesting.
Jesse Wood (06:02):
Right? But, I kind of lost touch with her process.
She kind of ghosted me. But Iwould have loved to included
them because there is stuffbeing done and there are people
who care. It was just harder
Carmen Olekas (06:12):
to get them off the phone. Well, and also from
what it looked like in thepiece, obviously, it's a very
long spanning issue that most ofthe people who are, like, super
duper invested are people thatare older and maybe less
accessible. So I definitelycould see that. Was there an
interview that stood out to youor changed the way you thought
about the story slash how itwhere it was going Mhmm. Or the
(06:35):
focus?
Jesse Wood (06:36):
I my interview with Linda Davis was insane. She runs
Friends of the BrooklynCemetery, which is, like, right
down the road. I was blown awayby her interview. She started
talking to me about how theywere gonna build a playground on
top of the cemetery. And shestepped in, and now it's this
amazing project where they'vespent twelve years cleaning it
(06:57):
up.
Linda Davis (06:58):
I was retiring from my thirty eight year career in
in telecommunications, and mybrother and Carl Scott, who was
a seventh grade, science teacherat Park Middle School, We're
having a conversation aboutconcerns, from his neighbors
because he lived in thatneighborhood looking for a place
for a playground. Mhmm. And theywere looking at the cemetery.
(07:22):
And so he had this conversationwith my brother, and they've
been friends sincedesegregation, back in the
sixties. I'd say around '65 orso.
Mhmm. And my brother said, well,Linda's retiring, and she'll be
moving back to Athens. And Ithink she would be a great
person to talk to about this.
Jesse Wood (07:40):
She said they removed, like, 12 tons of stuff
from the cemetery, and theycould discover new people and
make new changes and revelationsand found out who's actually
buried there. And she talkedabout how she knew some of the
people buried there, like hergrandparents Mhmm. Or her former
classmates. And I think heradding that, like, human element
of, I know these people. I'mconnected to them.
(08:01):
And then she also talked aboutgrowing up in Athens after
desegregation because she isthree generations away from
slavery. Oh, wow. I know. Ithink it just put in perspective
for me that we're not as farfrom the past as we like to
think.
Carmen Olekas (08:15):
Oh, absolutely.
Jesse Wood (08:16):
Right? And I just there's no way that I can even
comprehend, like, what Athensmust be like for someone like
her.
Carmen Olekas (08:22):
I also think at I was gonna say uniquely, but not
uniquely. Athens is so there'ssuch a rich history that rich in
not a good way of, like, there'sthere's a lot that happened here
that is still being undone,like, with the renaming
Cloverhurst, and they've renamedit to Linnetown to pay tribute
to the people who lost theirhomes to build Russell Homes.
(08:44):
Yeah. Creswell. Creswell.
So there's there's so much goingon, and I think there's a lot of
focus on trying to bring lightto that. But like you said, the
three generations from slavery,that's mind blowing.
Jesse Wood (08:56):
It was crazy. And just to hear her, like, talk
about that Well, then it's alsojust
Carmen Olekas (09:01):
you don't think I mean, you obviously think about
it, but then you really thinkabout it in terms of, like, time
frame, and it's, like, oh, we'renot actually that far from what
was happening. Every in-depthstory like this comes with with
certain challenges. What was thehardest part in reporting this
piece for you?
Jesse Wood (09:17):
I think it's hard for me because, like, who am I
to tell this story almost? It'slike I'm a white woman in
college, and I'm blessed withopportunities. And I have
parents, and I have a supportsystem. And there's people who
don't have that that I talked toor learned about through the
story. And there's people who,like, they don't even have a
(09:39):
name on their headstone or theydon't even know who they are in
the ground.
Carmen Olekas (09:43):
Most of them.
Jesse Wood (09:44):
Yeah. And I just, I guess it was hard for me to kind
of find my role in this, but Ihope I did it well. I I love
telling this story, and I just Imean just kinda like weird
vomited everywhere.
Carmen Olekas (09:57):
No. I think I I I definitely know what you mean.
It's like, why are you writingit versus someone who's might
have a little bit more dog inthe fight, I guess. But, I mean,
not talking about it was part ofthe problem. Yeah.
Very true. So we move on, and Ithink working through that
imposter syndrome with a storylike that is important because
it's also, like, well, if youwere to only write about white
(10:19):
girl college girl things,
Jesse Wood (10:20):
it would be like, well Yeah.
Carmen Olekas (10:22):
That's not that's not the reporting we're doing
there. At the Red and Black, thepaper is it's a different kind
of platform than our regularonline content. It's more long
form, it's more serious, alittle bit more storytelling y.
Y. How did writing this forprint change the way you
approached writing it, if thatmakes sense?
(10:43):
Like how did you what were youkeeping in mind that you don't
normally pay attention to whenyou're just writing for the
website? I think one of
Jesse Wood (10:52):
my favorite things about print is the way that all
of the elements come together onthe page to, like, create the
story. It's not just print ornot just words. It's not just
pictures. It's, like, all of ittogether. And it's also much
more condensed because you haveto be under a certain word
limit.
So I think knowing what I wantedto say and how I wanted to say
(11:13):
it was very important in this. Iknew what kind of pictures I
wanted. I knew what pull quote Iwanted, and I knew what quotes I
wanted to include before I evenstarted writing it.
Carmen Olekas (11:22):
Mhmm.
Linda Davis (11:23):
So
Jesse Wood (11:23):
I think just having it in mind was before I even
started putting everythingtogether was definitely
different, and I just had somuch information to work
through. I interviewed three orfour people. I think four. And
then I had so many websites, somany books, so so many
everything.
Carmen Olekas (11:42):
I was explaining it to my mother, and she didn't
get it. She was like, the papercomes out all the time. And I
was like, no. It's it's not likethe newspaper. It's like it's
like an honored place.
It's not we're not putting ourweekly updates and stuff in
there. It's it's definitely aplace that the more impactful
deeper stories go. So, I mean, Ithink it's also with a story
(12:04):
like this, you don't wannacheapen it by removing parts to
make it fit. So it's yeah. I candefinitely see how that would
come.
You know?
Jesse Wood (12:13):
I hope that being in print, it reaches more people
too. Like, people who maybe nothave don't have access to, like,
Internet. Oh, absolutely. Iwould hope that they would get
something from the story aswell.
Linda Davis (12:26):
That's a
Carmen Olekas (12:26):
good point, actually. I didn't even think
about that in terms of, like,probably the people who would be
most benefited by learning thatthis story is being told aren't
in the email list. Yeah. Sothey're they're not they're not
clocked in like that. So thatthat is a good point also that I
hadn't considered before.
(12:47):
Okay. Moving on to the storyitself. It's it's a story about,
you know, preservation andmemory and loss, and reading it
was a very emotional experience.You know, you're reading and
you're like, wow. You'relearning things and it's like we
live here, how did we not knowthat?
How did writing it and speakingto all these people and getting
(13:07):
such a influx of informationaffect you emotionally and how
did you work through that?Because it's a very emotional
piece. Like, I you can feel itwhen you read it.
Jesse Wood (13:16):
I don't think I realized how much it was
affecting me until I startedwriting it. I sat down at a
coffee shop, and it took me,like, four hours to get this
together. Just because I had tokeep stopping and, like, being
like, okay. I need to, like,take a step back and Yeah. Not
not do this for a minute.
Just get my mind off of it. ButI think comparing it to what
(13:37):
these people have gone throughthat I just couldn't even begin
to understand really, like,motivated me to keep going and,
like, get this story done. Ifeel like I owe it to the people
Carmen Olekas (13:49):
Wait. Why am I, like, emotional? I mean, it's
it's the journalistic dutySorry. To tell the stories. It's
it's our job.
Jesse Wood (13:55):
I feel like I owe it to the people who don't have
grave markers, and they're notburied with their families or
their families don't know wherethey are.
Carmen Olekas (14:04):
Oh, that's a big one.
Jesse Wood (14:05):
Yeah. So I think that kinda taking myself out of
situation and know that I wasdoing it for something bigger
than me helped me get throughit.
Carmen Olekas (14:13):
Absolutely. With an emotional connection, I I
feel like every journalist goesthrough, like, their
penultimate, like, this is thefirst time you ever feel, like,
actually, like, connected andattached to a piece that you've
worked on, whether it goes outor not. Mine never got
published. So but how do youbalance, like, the emotional
connection part, the part thatreally holds a lot of, not love,
(14:36):
but a lot of appreciation forthe role that you're playing in
that story with also yourpromise to be objective and
uphold the journalistic, youknow, tenants that we write
with. How do you how do you workwith that in a story like this?
Jesse Wood (14:51):
I feel like it's easy for me to balance because
my way of showing that I care isby doing my journalistic duty,
if that makes sense. Like,making sure everything is right.
All the names are spelledcorrectly. All the facts are
relevant and important, and justbeing mindful with the way I'm
phrasing things.
Linda Davis (15:08):
Mhmm.
Jesse Wood (15:08):
I feel like it's my way of showing I do care. And
this means a lot to me and I'mnot going to hurt my trust with
the people I talk to. I'm notgonna hurt my trust with the
audience. Like, I'm gonnadeliver a good journalistic
piece because I care.
Carmen Olekas (15:22):
And it wasn't done before. Like, that the
whole point is, like, therewasn't people paying attention
and bringing it out and doingthat. So it's a labor of love.
Yeah. You mentioned the accuracypart With a story like this,
that is really, like, groundedand rooted in it not being
accurate and no one caringenough to write it all down and
(15:44):
make sure that they were namedand just have any sort of care
towards the people that werebeing interred there.
What steps did you take to makesure that everything was really,
really, really correct? And wasthere anything that you came
across that you felt was like animportant piece, but you really
couldn't identify or verify to,you know, enough to be able to
(16:05):
put it into the article.
Jesse Wood (16:06):
I it was hard for me to find a lot of information
that was newer. So I thinkasking my sources for
clarification was the best wayto find things. I talked to a
lot of people and I just askedthem, like, very basically.
Okay. Well, I found this.
Like, is this right? Can yougive me more information? Who
can I talk to? Where can I look?The Athens death project was
(16:28):
really helpful.
They had a ton of informationabout the people buried there,
the cemetery itself. So I usedthem a lot. And then I talked to
someone who helped lead theproject. Mhmm. And she had a lot
of information.
We stayed on the phone and Iwas, like, going through my list
of, like, is this right? Is thisright? Is this still true? What
do you think about this? So
Carmen Olekas (16:47):
One thing about, like, specifically black history
in the South is that it's alwaysgonna be kind of up in the air.
Like, there's just things wecan't recover as be you know,
because nobody was payingattention when it was supposed
to be recorded. I thinkword-of-mouth is important, but
I also think it makes what,like, we put out more important
(17:11):
because as you mentioned, thepeople you talked to were older.
They are. They've moved away.
They're not they're not asphysically here. They have
family outside, like, Athensisn't what it used to be for
them. So making sure that whilewe still have the chance to get
it on paper and memorialize itin a way that we can we weren't
doing before. I think it's veryimportant. When you were working
(17:34):
on this piece, was theresomething that surprised you?
Was there something that, youknow, maybe challenged something
that you had already thought, orsomething that just completely
took you by surprise when youwere looking?
Jesse Wood (17:46):
I'm very surprised with how this depression of
black communities in Athens wasjust not that long ago. Yeah.
Linda Davis (17:53):
And
Jesse Wood (17:53):
it still happens today. And I think it was
surprising for me to, like, finda link between this black
cemetery on the other side ofAthens with the way that I view
Athens today and, like, theissues that I see in Athens
today. I just I wasn't expectingthis piece to, like, turn into
that. But Yeah. Linda Davis madethat connection.
(18:15):
I was like, Linda, you are sosmart.
Linda Davis (18:20):
I can remember growing up here and having a I
call it my safe pattern. I stilltalk about my safe path to
travel Athens, and I talk aboutgoing on streets that are right
in my neighborhood that I neverwould venture to go down because
of the segregation and the fearof what could happen with no
(18:43):
retribution, to anyone doingharm to black children or black
people. I have all of thosethings that I carry with me. I
think of the, fear that waspretty much a thing that kept
kept kept most of us in check, Iwould say, my friends anyway,
(19:03):
around just the fact that wedidn't have any protections
here. Yeah.
So a lot of that was imagined. Alot of that was real. A lot of
it was based on, again, thetools that people use to
control. And everybody didn'tsuccumb to that. I certainly did
because I just didn't wanna goto jail.
(19:24):
I didn't wanna get in trouble,and I'm allowed to do so.
Carmen Olekas (19:27):
Mhmm.
Linda Davis (19:27):
And so that that's essentially how I was raised to
not necessarily fear, but tostay out of harm's way Mhmm.
Picking up as much as I can. Ithink that's still true in
Athens today.
Jesse Wood (19:41):
She is so smart, and her perspective is just so
amazing. She's just so full oflife and love and
Carmen Olekas (19:47):
That's wonderful.
Jesse Wood (19:48):
I loved her. But I think I was just surprised that
that connection was made, and Iwas also surprised I didn't see
it.
Carmen Olekas (19:55):
When you go back to going back to what we talked
about before of, like, like, whoam I or who are you to Who are
we? Who are we to be writingabout this? But we wouldn't
think about it. Mhmm. Like, it'snot it's just not something that
is, like, that obvious whenyou're born with the privilege
that we have been blessed with.
And I I think issues like thisare very lucky to have people
(20:18):
like Linda keeping it alive andmaking sure that the people know
and the people can can realize,you know, history repeats
itself, and we're not thatseparated from what was
happening. Because I also feellike the way we're taught about
slavery and, like, theantebellum South is what in,
like, high school andeverything, it feels very old
and timey. It feels very faraway and distant, but it really
(20:41):
wasn't that long ago, and it'snot that different than it is
now. So, I mean, we're doingdoing the good doing the good
work.
Jesse Wood (20:47):
Yeah. I just don't think that black history is
adequately taught. I feel likeI've learned Not
Carmen Olekas (20:52):
at all.
Jesse Wood (20:52):
Yeah. I've learned more from talking to people like
Linda than I have in school. SoI think it was just so
interesting hearing the livedexperiences of people who were
going through that time periodand still carry that with them
today. I think was just mindblowing.
Carmen Olekas (21:07):
Yeah. Black history education is just eons
Yeah. Eons behind what it shouldbe. And it's because it's also,
like, I feel like this mighthave just been, like, what I was
taught, but it's not notentirely related. But, like, you
know how we were always taughtthat, like, the Indians taught
the white settlers how to growcorn, like that didn't happen.
Yeah. That didn't it's like avery nice polished picture of
(21:30):
what history might have lookedlike, but it just didn't happen,
and I feel like that that kindof gloss was put over the very
few black history lessons I everhad in high high school. A push,
all of that stuff. It wasn'treally a focus. And if it was
talked about, it was kind ofpolished up and made to look all
nice.
And then when you talk to thepeople who actually were part of
(21:51):
it, then it's like, oh, Wait.
Jesse Wood (21:52):
That was not true.
Carmen Olekas (21:53):
Oh, no. Yeah.
Jesse Wood (21:54):
I feel like history has just stopped and, like,
recorded properly. I feel likethere's always a way Oh, yeah.
To one side. And doing stufflike this really opens my eyes,
and it makes me feel so guiltyfor not even one. You know?
How did I miss this? How did Inot know this?
Carmen Olekas (22:09):
Especially because it feels so obvious.
Those facts were withheld, soit's like feeling guilty and
having imposter syndrome aboutwriting an article like this is
all well and good, but itdoesn't really help anybody. And
then also, it's like every timeI've talked to someone or, you
know, had something that Ilearned learned that it wasn't
how I was taught or whatever,the person that was teaching me
(22:32):
was never like, oh my god, Ican't believe you didn't know
that. It's like, well, yeah, youwouldn't. So, you know, it's
different, but I'm glad I'm gladthat you and Linda and
everybody's getting the storyout.
After spending so much time onthe story, what do you hope
readers take away from it andmove on with
Jesse Wood (22:47):
it? Mhmm. I hope that I let's start conversations
in Athens about what more can bedone to acknowledge black
history. And I think that's juststarting point we need to, like,
make the changes necessary inAthens and just all over the
South. I'm from Monroe and thelast lynching in The United
(23:09):
States was in Monroe.
Oh, wow. I didn't know that.Yeah. The Morse word lynching
and this is unrelated. I saw adocumentary.
My friend's mom made it,Stephanie Calabrese. It's called
Unspoken. Plug. It's amazing.But she basically kind of did
what I did.
And she, like, did thisinvestigative piece, talked to
(23:29):
so many people in Monroe. Shetalked to people who remember
the Moores Ford lynching, and itcompletely changed my
perspective on my hometown. ButI think in a good way because I
feel more educated about where Ilive, the people around me, what
happened. You know? It just Idon't know.
It was like, well, now I knowmore, And I think that's a good
(23:50):
thing.
Carmen Olekas (23:51):
It is like a thing.
Jesse Wood (23:52):
People know more about Athens and its history and
how history creates impacts thefuture so directly.
Carmen Olekas (24:00):
Absolutely. It's funny that or not funny. Not
funny at all, actually, that youmentioned Monroe. I have a
friend who lives there, and Iwould drive through there. And I
every single time I had to drivepast the Confederate Memorial
and, like, the torch.
And every time I'm like, wow.Wow. If you don't know what I'm
talking about, Walton County hasa very contentious statue in,
(24:21):
like, the town square,basically. It's, like, in the
middle of Main Street.
Jesse Wood (24:24):
Like city
Carmen Olekas (24:24):
people. Yeah. It's in the middle of, like, the
only the only cities under thatMonroe has. And there's a statue
of a Confederate soldier, andit's not even like a just a
soldier that kind of looks likea Confederate soldier. Like, it
it says like two areConfederates on the bottom.
Yeah.
Jesse Wood (24:40):
And he's like in his Confederate soldier uniform.
Carmen Olekas (24:42):
Yeah. He's he's all dressed up, and there's this
torch that never goes out, andit is burning in memory of all
of the fallen Confederatesoldiers. And it's, like, it's
on fire, like, right now as wespeak. And that's forty five
minutes away. So Yeah.
There's a lot to think about.This story might feel very
central to Athens, but it's astory that is so I think you
(25:05):
would find to be so common inthis area that we live in. In
this southern part of The US,there has to be so many graves
that are that have gone unmarkedand whose families will never
know that they're there. So Ireally think that the work
that's being done by the Athensdeath project and all that stuff
(25:27):
is very important, and gettingthe word out will not only
educate the people that are inAthens, but also you can apply
it to what's happening all overThe United States.
Jesse Wood (25:38):
Can I talk about the cover? Please. Okay. So, I went
to the cemetery and I took thisphoto as like a, okay, this is
what it looks like. I'll knowthis, like, keep this in mind
when I'm recording.
And I never thought it would beon the cover.
Carmen Olekas (25:54):
That's a great photo.
Jesse Wood (25:55):
Thank you. But we had a lot of debate over how
empty the picture is almost, butI hope people know that it adds
to the story. It's veryrepresentative of
Carmen Olekas (26:05):
I was gonna say.
Jesse Wood (26:06):
Yeah. But the story is.
Carmen Olekas (26:08):
It's about an empty or seemingly empty Yeah.
You know, cemetery. I think Ithink it's very it's very
important. And, obviously, ifyou don't know what we're
talking about, go find a paperand
Jesse Wood (26:21):
Go find a paper.
Carmen Olekas (26:22):
You'll you'll see what we mean. If you are in the
Athens area at any point in thenear future, check out we have
we have boxes everywhere. Pickup a paper, read it. There's
aside from Jesse's article,there are many fantastic things.
This edition, I was reading itearlier.
It's wonderful. I just I'm inawe of the work that goes into
the paper every month. Sodefinitely check it out, and
(26:44):
this podcast will be a oncemonthly podcast, so we will do
it around the same time that thepaper comes out. So definitely
check back in and grab a paperso that you can see obviously
what we are talking about. Butabsolutely read up on the story.
It was really beautiful. I feltvery emotional when reading it.
Jesse cried talking about it, soit's definitely a good read, and
(27:08):
I will I will see you all nextmonth. Bye. Bye.
This has been the front page.The front page is a production
of the Red and Black PublishingCompany. Make sure to download
our app and keep up with us onsocial media. And we hope to see
you again next time. Support forthis podcast comes from the Cox
Institute of JournalismInnovation, Management and
(27:30):
Leadership.
For more information, visituga.edu/coxinstitute.
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