Mount Auburn Cemetery in the News

Mount Auburn Cemetery,  W.H. Bartlett Engraving, courtesy of the Aaron Sachs via the Boston Globe.

In Sunday’s Ideas section of the Boston Globe (13 January 2013), Mount Auburn Cemetery received a very nice write-up, titled Mt. Auburn’s Farsighted Message:  the Subtle Environmental Lessons of a Cambridge Garden Cemetery.  The article was written by Aaron Sachs, a history professor at Cornell University, about his recently published book Arcadian America: The Death and Life of an Environmental Tradition.  Sachs argues that the creation of garden cemeteries during the 19^th century has been America’s greatest environmental idea (not the public park system as many would argue).  As the catalyst for the rural and garden cemetery movements, Mount Auburn plays a key role in the book.  According to staff at Mount Auburn Cemetery, Sachs spent a great deal of time in their Historical Collections while conducting the research for this book.

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Free Lunch Time Talk: Mount Auburn’s Horticultural Records

Lunch-time Talk: Documenting the Garden of Graves

Who: Meg Winslow, Curator of Historical Collections, Mount Auburn Cemetery
What: Learn about the Cemetery’s archival collections of horticultural records including planting plans, historic photographs, and other records that document the Cemetery’s changing landscape and horticultural diversity.
When: Thursday, December 15, 2011 from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
Where: Mount Auburn Cemetery, Story Chapel, 580 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge.
Cost: Free and open to the public.

Bring your lunch!  For more information, click here.

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Music from the Civil War this Saturday at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Libby Frank (left) is a storyteller and Deborah Goss and Anabel Graetz (right) are in the 19th century performing group, “The Proper Ladies.”

“Be Jubulient My Feet” – Music from the Civil War

Who: Libby Frank will portray Julia Ward Howe and the Proper Ladies (Deborah Goss and Anabel Graetz) will perform a capella songs from the era
What: In honor of the 150th anniversary of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic“
When: Saturday, November 12, 2011 at 3:00 p.m.
Where: Story Chapel, Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, MA
Cost: $10 members; $15 non-members, refreshments provided

In November of 1861 poet and activist Julia Ward Howe penned the lyrics to “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” while visiting Union Troops in Washington , D.C. Join us in Story Chapel to celebrate the 150th anniversary of this important Civil War song and other music from the era that captured the spirit of a country in the tangles of war.

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The Historic Dogs of Mount Auburn Cemetery

Photograph courtesy of Jan Devereux.

Take a tour of Mount Auburn Cemetery’s dogs, courtesy of CambridgeCanine.  The cemetery has seven tombs with sculpted dogs used as psychopomps, the funerary art term used to describe the creature whose responsibility is to escort newly deceased souls to the afterlife.   Each dog has been meticulously researched – from the history of the plot owner to the sculptor.  It’s a great tour for dog and history lovers alike.  Enjoy!

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Third Annual Open Archives Tour – Reserve Your Spot

This July, Cambridge, Mass., residents and visitors will be given a rare opportunity—the chance to see inside nine different archives. The third annual Open Archives Tour will feature tours of private, City, and Harvard University archives on three separate days. This year, the event’s theme is Cambridge in the 1860s, and each archive will delve into its collections to display related materials, including rarely seen photographs and new research.

“This is a unique opportunity to see some of the rare items from our collections, see the spaces where our archivists process this material, and talk to the professionals who have a deep and passionate understanding of this history,” said Gavin W. Kleespies of the Cambridge Historical Society. Alyssa Pacy of the Cambridge Room at the Public Library added, “Cambridge is a really unusual city in terms of the number of organizations that are collecting and holding archival material, and this is an amazing chance to peek behind the scenes in nine of these institutions.”

The following institutions will participate:

Cambridge City Clerk’s Office
Cambridge Historical Commission
Cambridge Historical Society
Cambridge Public Library
Harvard University Archives
Houghton Library, Harvard University
Longfellow House – Washington’s Headquarters
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Schlesinger Library, Harvard University

For additional information, please visit www.cambridgearchives.org

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Take the Mount Auburn Cemetery Quiz

Historic etching of Mount Auburn Cemetery

Brought to you by the Boston Globe and the Mount Auburn Cemetery is a five part, timed quiz on the history of the Mount Auburn Cemetery.  See if you can beat the high score.

The Cambridge Public Library has several books on the cemetery, including Blanche Linden’s Silent City on a Hill.

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Murder at Harvard: Screening at Mount Auburn Cemetery

“3,000 Reward!  Dr. George Parkman…”, Broadside, 26 November 1849, from the Massachusetts Historical Society.

What: Screening of Murder at Harvard, a PBS American Experience documentary.
When: Thursday, March 17, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
Where: Story Chapel, Mount Auburn Cemetery
Cost: $5 Mount Auburn Cemetery members, $10 non-members.

In the fall of 1849 the body of Dr. George Parkman, one of Boston’s richest citizens, was discovered at the Harvard Medical School. Parkman’s remains were laid to rest at Mount Auburn. The following March, Harvard chemistry professor John Webster was put on trial for Parkman’s murder in what would become one of the country’s most notorious trials. The documentary follows noted historian Simon Schama as he tries to uncover the “truth” behind the case. Melissa Banta and Eric Stange, co-writers and co-producers of “Murder at Harvard,” will be available for questions and answers following a screening of the documentary. A reception will immediately follow the program.

Read more about the film, here.

Read more about the Parkman murder at the Massachusetts Historical Society, here.

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