In Podcast #6 the Virginia Trekkers take you to Hollywood Cemetery.  Find out which two of our country’s presidents are buried here.  See Richmond’s very own pyramid and discover why it was built.  Learn why Confederate soldiers’ tombstones are shaped differently than Union soldiers’ tombstones. Visit the family tomb of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, and explore the history behind some of the most fascinating grave sites.  Come on!  Let’s go trekking! (Trouble viewing the YouTube video? Try Vimeo or direct link).

One of the fanciest tombs in Hollywood cemetery belongs to Lewis Ginter.  He was a wealthy tobacco businessman who fought in the Civil War.  He gave away much of his wealth to improve the city of Richmond.  His donations helped create many famous landmarks in Richmond such as the Jefferson Hotel, Ginter Park, the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, and Union Theological Seminary. Click here to learn more about Lewis Ginter.


Here is a Google map of Hollywood Cemetery. Use the +/- buttons in the bottom right to zoom in or out.

Can you find the pyramid and the other sites we visited?



This is a 360 view of the pyramid at Hollywood Cemetery.  Take a look around!


Social Studies

1.5 (2023) The student will apply history and social science skills to describe contributions of Virginia’s diverse people and the stories of changemakers in the history of Virginia and their contributions to our Commonwealth, including but not limited to

c. Presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe;


VS.7 (2015) The student will demonstrate an understanding of the issues that divided our nation and led to the Civil War


VS.7 (2023) The students will apply history and social science skills to understand the key people, events and issues of the Civil War and Virginia’s role


VS.12 (2023) The student will use history and social science skills to recognize why Virginia is known as the Mother of Presidents.


USI.9 (2023) The student will apply history and social science skills to understand the cause, major events, and effects of the Civil War by

d. describing how individuals influenced the course of the Civil War, including but not limited to Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, William Tecumseh Sherman, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, and Frederick Douglass;

f. analyzing the effects of the war from various perspectives of Union and Confederate soldiers, including Indigenous peoples, women, European Americans, and enslaved and free Blacks during the war.