Students clean and restore the gravestones of Civil War veterans at Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee. The project combined historical research, prayer and acts of mercy as students honored soldiers whose graves had long gone untended. (Submitted photo)

History teachers want students to see the past as more than just a litany of names and dates. They want them to see it as a living thing — real moments, in real places, experienced by real people whose influence continues to shape the world today.

In a similar way, the Church calls the faithful to see a cemetery as more than just a collection of headstones etched with fading names. The Church asks Catholics to consider the dead as fellow members of the Body of Christ — brothers and sisters whose memory is carried lovingly and perpetually in prayer, and whose intercession can strengthen the holiness of the living.

This spring, students in Christopher Lese’s Civil War History class at Marquette University High School, Milwaukee, brought the past to life in a uniquely Catholic way: by caring for abandoned gravestones in a historic Milwaukee cemetery while learning about the lives of the men to whom the graves belong.

In doing so, said the students, they discovered a connection to the past that was not only tangible but spiritual, too.

“It made me realize how it is important to remember people who die, not only for the life they lived on earth but also for their time in the next life,” said junior Brendan Pierce. “It made me realize that someday, I will die and not be here anymore. People might remember me or they might not, but I want to be remembered for doing good.”

Senior Declan Isakson agreed that the project “made me feel a connection to this person’s soul by discovering their story and bringing it into the public’s eye once more.”

“It made me think about our obligation to not only remember and reverence the souls who have passed away but to reflect and pray for their ultimate peace in death,” he said.

“It’s one thing to learn about a person in a classroom,” said Lese, who has been a teacher at MUHS for 15 years and is a member of St. John XXIII Parish, Port Washington. “It’s another to stand where they rest in eternity, pray for them and share their story in a cemetery surrounded by headstones.”

Lese was inspired to assign this project by an experience he shared with his son last Memorial Day, when the pair presented in first person the stories of two fallen World War II soldiers during an event at Wood National Cemetery.

“I work to create learning experiences that are authentic, immersive and experiential, both inside and outside of the classroom,” he said. “My goal is to move beyond simple memorization and instead engage with history by asking questions, investigating evidence and uncovering stories that might otherwise be forgotten.”

Lese worked with Forest Home Cemetery, Milwaukee, which was established in 1850, to identify the graves of six Civil War veterans whose graves were in need of care. Lese’s students used a D2 biological solution to clean dirt and plant growth off of the headstones.

But that wasn’t the end of the assignment: Working in groups, students were also tasked with taking on the role of public historian, using genealogical records, archival collections, military documents and historic newspapers to flesh out the biographical details of these six men, four of whom served in the same regiment.

When their research was complete, the students stood at the newly cleaned graves and presented the stories of their soldiers, speaking in the first person.

Junior Drew Collins described the project as “one of my favorite projects that I’ve taken in high school.”

“It felt like saying his name and presenting on him in the first person brought him back to life,” he said. “It showed me that we are all connected to the souls of those that passed away.”

The importance of performing “works of mercy” is an ancient concept in Christianity, described by the Catechism of the Catholic Church as “charitable actions by

which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities.” (CCC 2447) These actions extend not only to the living, but to the dead: Burying the dead is considered a corporal (bodily) work of mercy, and praying for the dead is a spiritual work of mercy.

The last of these soldiers died in 1914, and it is unlikely that anyone still living remembers their souls in prayer, said Lese.

“We may be the first time a group of people had gathered at these graves in remembrance since these soldiers’ funerals,” said Lese. “That was a powerful thought and there was a sense of duty that we stand in the cold and rain and do what it takes for these people’s stories to be remembered one more time.”

“I really wanted to find a photo of my soldier,” said senior Edward Owczarski. “Unfortunately, as hard as I looked, it seems his face is lost to history, and that made me think of just how many people will never be ‘seen’ again. … I hope their souls grew just a little bit in love, experiencing our gift of remembrance, and that our souls might as well, through the intercession of any of these saints.”