The Archibald Yell monument at Evergreen Cemetery is in need of replacement.
Staff photo
“History Comes Alive” will return this year for another round of actors portraying some of Fayetteville’s founders and civic leaders who are buried at Evergreen Cemetery.
The historic cemetery is the final resting place of second governor of Arkansas Archibald Yell, four members of Congress, several former presidents of the University of Arkansas, and many others.
The event, which launched in 2016 as a partnership between the Evergreen Cemetery Association and the Artists Laboratory Theatre, is a fundraiser for the cemetery which dates back to the early 1840s.
Money from ticket sales will go toward the maintenance and improvement projects at the cemetery, located at the corner of West Center Street and North University Avenue. The association still needs about $9,000 to complete a $22,000 replacement of Yell’s crumbling 170-year-old monument.
Audiences will tour the cemetery, stopping at headstones wheres actors from Artists Laboratory Theatre will portray each civic leader and give insight to that person’s life in Fayetteville. This year’s characters include Lessie Stringfellow Reed, William McIlroy, Archibald Yell, Roberta Fulbright, Lafayette Gregg and Albert Byrnes.
Performances are scheduled at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 11-12. Admission is $10 and tickets can be purchased at the door, at artlabtheatre.com or at the Fayetteville Visitors Bureau.
Parking is available in the nearby University of Arkansas Lot 71, which is free on Saturday and Sunday.
