This area of historic Oak Hill Cemetery is known as Babyland. In the early days of this cemetery, the infant mortality rate was high and many children did not survive. Death was a daily possibility, lurking in every drop of untreated water, hovering over every scene of childbirth. Still parents wanted to be able to have a good funeral for them. In Victorian times, funerals for children often featured white accents such as white gloves on the mourners, white ostrich plumes on the horses, a white coffin for the child. Victorian parents who lost a child wore deep mourning for nine months

There are many children and infants buried in family plots in this cemetery. However, for various reasons, it has been appropriate for some families to use this location called Babyland. The first burial in this section was in 1965. There is also an older child burial section at Section L Row C, where there are over 80 child burials—beginning in 1938 and ending in 1958.

In the older sections of the cemetery, you may see images used to represent the frailty and the brevity of human life:

Birds representing eternal life, spirituality;
Ivy representing fidelity, attachment, affection;
Poppies representing eternal sleep;
the Rose representing love and purity;
a Tree Trunk Leaning, a short interrupted life;
an Urn representing the death of the body and its return to dust;
a Wreath representing the victory of death over life.

 

The large stone angel that watches over this area is a beautiful symbol of protection, mercy, and divine love. So appropriate.