For Nebraskans wanting to celebrate an old fashioned Memorial Day head to Prospect Hill Cemetery at 32nd and Parker Street in Omaha. Co-President of the Board of Trustees Barbara Naughtin you will get a real history lesson. The first settlers of Omaha traveled across the Missouri River on Mrs. Brown's Flat Boat Ferry from Kanesville, Iowa (now Council Bluffs) in 1854. Those settlers among others are buried at Prospect Hill, the first cemetery in Douglas County.
Naughtin says many of Omaha's founding fathers are buried here and it is a bit of history to explore. There are about 15,000 burial records dating back to 1858 including names of mayors, judges and city leaders that parks, streets and schools are named after. It is the final resting place for a number of Civil War soldiers and even one from the War of 1812.
The Memorial Day service will start at 10:45 with a 20 piece brass band providing music. The service will start at 11 a.m. There will be speakers, Civil War re-enactors and a 21 musket gun salute. Naughton says after the service those attending are invited to take a short work to the gravesite of Anna Wilson. There her euolgy will be read and a rose presented at her grave, a tradition dating back to 1912. Wilson was the madam of a brothel near 9th and Douglas and gave generously to many civic organizations. She left her fortune to the city as well as her 25 room mansion with instructions it should be used as a hospital.
The Prospect Hill Foundation Board also has an education program and works with area schools. There will be a free-will offering as this is the cemetery's only fundraiser of the year. They ask you leave dogs at home as they may become frightened during the 21 gun musket salute.