The Ordinary, Extraordinary Cemetery

Jennie Johnson & Dianne Hartshorn
  • 4.5 (58)
  • HISTORY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

The Ordinary, Extraordinary Cemetery is a podcast for cemetery lovers, preservationists, and even those who've never walked among the graves. Join hosts Jennie and Dianne as they explore old cemeteries and learn the stories of those buried within their walls. After all, every death had a life, and every life had a story.

  1. 9H AGO

    Episode 270 - Anonymous Was a Woman: Why Women's History Matters

    Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email. "For most of history, Anonymous was a woman." — Virginia Woolf     In this episode of the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery, Dianne and Jennie follow a single name etched on a simple marble stone in the Pioneer section of Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs - Lorenda Judd. She rests there alone. No husband, no children beside her. After Lorenda’s death, her family moved on, and the record of her life thinned to almost nothing. What we do know comes filtered through other people: a marriage certificate, a few lines mentioned through her youngest son, the bare facts of a woman who was born in New York in the early 1800s, migrated to Illinois, and later crossed into Colorado Territory as a wife and mother. We don’t have her letters, her opinions, or any account of how she felt about leaving home and building a life on the frontier. This episode asks what’s lost when women’s stories are reduced to their relationships to the men in their lives, and why that loss matters. Lorenda’s missing narrative isn’t an anomaly; it’s the pattern. Throughout history, women’s lives slip out of the archive, and “ordinary” women become extraordinary precisely because we have to work to see them, and why preserving and amplifying their stories changes how we understand history itself.  Need an Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery Podcast tee, hoodie or mug? Find all our taphophile-fun much here: https://oecemetery.etsy.com Family Tales: A free printable, is now available! Gather 'round the table and dig into your roots! This interactive family history game is perfect for holidays, reunions, or just because. Ask, listen, and laugh your way through generations of stories and secrets. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UT_R56qEwNTIxIBrTy8KFyVmGnFOe7g8/view?usp=sharing Support the show

    46 min

  2. MAR 4

    Episode 269

    Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email. Support the show

    38 min

  3. FEB 19

    Episode 268 - Grave Delights & Ghostly Bites: A Cemetery Dessert Special

    Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email. What dessert would you eat in a cemetery? This week, we're sharing some of your wild and wonderful social media responses to that very question, inspired by the authors of "To Die For A Cookbook of Gravestone Recipes" and "Haunted Virginia Cemeteries"! We're unwrapping a brand new episode that also features classic clips from our chats with Rosie Grant and Sharon Pajka about their fascinating journeys to writing these books. And as if that's not sweet enough, we're giving away copies of both books! Be sure to tune in for all the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery fun! To listen to the full episodes with Rosie and Sharon, follow these links: https://www.theordinaryextraordinarycemetery.com/episode-233-dishes-from-the-dearly-departed-with-rosie-grant/ https://www.theordinaryextraordinarycemetery.com/episode-243-haunted-history-exploring-virginias-cemeteries-with-sharon-pajka/ Need an Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery Podcast tee, hoodie or mug? Find all our taphophile-fun much here: https://oecemetery.etsy.com Family Tales: A free printable, is now available! Gather 'round the table and dig into your roots! This interactive family history game is perfect for holidays, reunions, or just because. Ask, listen, and laugh your way through generations of stories and secrets. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UT_R56qEwNTIxIBrTy8KFyVmGnFOe7g8/view?usp=sharing Support the show

    52 min

  4. FEB 12

    Episode 267 - The Brigadier, The Bluebird, and a Lifetime of Love

    Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email. In this episode of the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery, we're diving into a tale of wartime romance, enduring love, and a connection forged across continents. Dalhousie University, 1914. She was a music student, he was an athlete. They were just friends... until the Great War changed everything. Discover the captivating journey of Reg Roome and Helen Jones – a Canadian soldier fighting on the front lines and a brave 'bluebird' nurse – whose wartime letters unexpectedly blossomed into a passionate romance and a secret proposal. Tune in for this beautiful Ordinary Extraordinary true love story that defied the trenches and atrocities of the First World War.  To read not only Reg and Helen's love story, but also those of others who experienced the Great War, check out "True Love Stories from World War One" by Amelia Kenton. https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/true-love-stories-from-world-war-one-wwi-inspiring-couples-from-back-in-time_amelia-kenton/39802706/?srsltid=AfmBOopf27MIIxxyJ069HImP1S_M6EOGXNPUzk1vO2h-RfA7y_WiCeQ9#edition=68156381&idiq=59204071 Support the show

    36 min

  5. FEB 5

    Episode 266 - Tracks of Change: The Pullman Porters' Legacy

    Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email. All aboard! Join Jennie and Dianne this week as they "ride the rails" with the Pullman Porters, unsung heroes of American history! These men overcame unimaginable prejudice and racism; from being called "George" by passengers, regardless of their name, to working 400+ hours a month with little time off, their struggles were real. Yet, they persevered, forming the first all-Black labor union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and paving the way for the Civil Rights Movement. Their legacy extends far beyond the railroad, influencing leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and shaping the course of American history.  Need an Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery Podcast tee, hoodie or mug? Find all our taphophile-fun much here: https://oecemetery.etsy.com Family Tales: A free printable, is now available! Gather 'round the table and dig into your roots! This interactive family history game is perfect for holidays, reunions, or just because. Ask, listen, and laugh your way through generations of stories and secrets. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UT_R56qEwNTIxIBrTy8KFyVmGnFOe7g8/view?usp=sharing *Images: Sleeping car, Pullman Porter portrait & Pullman Porter making the bed are in the public domain • Gates to The Haven of Rest Cemetery in Little Rock, Arkansas by Richard Theilig 3/2/2018 posted to findagrave.com • James William Warren Jr.grave by Mizzizzippy 10/24/2018 posted to findagrave.com • grave of Prince Albert Smith by Richard Theilig 4/23/2019 posted to findagrave.com Resources used to research this episode include: Dorsey-Burke, Ethelda. "Ordinary Men—Extraordinary History: A Proud Pullman Porter ." https://www.tacomaartmuseum.org/. 22 Dec. 2021. www.tacomaartmuseum.org/tamblog-proud-pullman-porter/ . Accessed 1 Feb. 2026. Hutchinson , Brittany. "The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters ." https://www.chicagohistory.org/. 4 Sep. 2020. www.chicagohistory.org/brotherhood-sleeping-car-porters/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026. Harris, Kathy Lynn. "Haven of Rest Cemetery ." https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/. 22 Oct. 2025. encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/haven-of-rest-cemetery-14603/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026. "Cemetery Map." https://friendsofhavenofrestcemetery.com/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026. Dover, Elicia. "Community Connections: Friends of Haven of Rest." https://katv.com/. 24 Feb. 2022. katv.com/community/community-connections/community-connections-friends-of-haven-of-rest. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026. , Museum Of The American Railroad . "The Pullman Porter ." https://www.historictrains.org/. 24 Apr. 2025. www.historictrains.org/collection/philippe-9z32w. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026. Demirel, Evin. "Cemetery holds 27 Pullman porter graves ." Editorial. Arkansas Democrat Gazette [Little Rock], 16 Aug. 2009, p. 17,22. Support the show

    56 min

  6. JAN 29

    Episode 265 - The Price of Freedom: Exploring Bleeding Kansas

    Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email. Tune in this week to The Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast as Jennie and Dianne dive into the turbulent history of Kansas from 1854-1856, sparked by the New England Emigrant Aid Company's efforts to make Kansas a free state. What they uncover are eerie echoes of today's headlines. Don't miss this timely exploration of history's parallels to modern America. Join them to unearth the beginning of "Bleeding Kansas's" legacy, and why more than ever, it's important not to forget the stories of the past! Learn more about Bleeding Kansas with this video: https://youtu.be/ASM1sel--d4?si=VLibuqP_q94ojesl Need an Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery Podcast tee, hoodie or mug? Find all our taphophile-fun much here: https://oecemetery.etsy.com Family Tales: A free printable, is now available! Gather 'round the table and dig into your roots! This interactive family history game is perfect for holidays, reunions, or just because. Ask, listen, and laugh your way through generations of stories and secrets. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UT_R56qEwNTIxIBrTy8KFyVmGnFOe7g8/view?usp=sharing Support the show

    58 min

  7. JAN 22

    Episode 264 - Death and Dying 101 with Ryan Seidemann: Episode 7

    Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email. This week on the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast Dianne and Jennie sit down with Ryan Seidemann for our first Death and Dying 101 episode of 2026. We discuss the Victorian morals of using ground up mummies for miracle cures, the burial practices of Neanderthals, the law regarding modern-day the grave robbing (specifically two very recent cases in the state of Pennsylvania), odor control in mausoleums and more. This is a conversation you don't want to miss! Need an Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery Podcast tee, hoodie or mug? Find all our taphophile-fun much here: https://oecemetery.etsy.com Family Tales: A free printable, is now available! Gather 'round the table and dig into your roots! This interactive family history game is perfect for holidays, reunions, or just because. Ask, listen, and laugh your way through generations of stories and secrets. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UT_R56qEwNTIxIBrTy8KFyVmGnFOe7g8/view?usp=sharing Support the show

    1h 6m

  8. JAN 15

    Episode 263 - Family Tales the Game

    Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email. New year, new memories! Tune in to this week's Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast as Jennie and Dianne share heartwarming family stories from listeners who played our game "Family Tales" with us online as we closed out 2025 and ushered in 2026. It's not too late to play for yourself. Grab the free game on our website and start collecting your own family's stories! Need an Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery Podcast tee, hoodie or mug? Find all our taphophile-fun much here: https://oecemetery.etsy.com Family Tales: A free printable, is now available! Gather 'round the table and dig into your roots! This interactive family history game is perfect for holidays, reunions, or just because. Ask, listen, and laugh your way through generations of stories and secrets. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UT_R56qEwNTIxIBrTy8KFyVmGnFOe7g8/view?usp=sharing Support the show

    53 min
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4.5
out of 5
58 Ratings

About

The Ordinary, Extraordinary Cemetery is a podcast for cemetery lovers, preservationists, and even those who've never walked among the graves. Join hosts Jennie and Dianne as they explore old cemeteries and learn the stories of those buried within their walls. After all, every death had a life, and every life had a story.

Information

  • Creator
    Jennie Johnson & Dianne Hartshorn
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    269
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Ordinary, Extraordinary Cemetery
  • Show Website
    The Ordinary, Extraordinary Cemetery

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