Back in the day: Green-Wood on PBS

In 2008, PBS’s Channel 13 featured Green-Wood as part of their The City Concealed series. I had the pleasure of being their guide for the piece. It originally appeared in October 2008 and is also online at Channel 13’s website and Vimeo, listed below. I hope you enjoy it. The City Concealed: Tombs & Catacombs … Read more

Much Mulch

Green-Wood’s 478 acres are home to 7000 trees. And, as you may have guessed, those trees produce millions and millions of leaves. For the last few years, it has been the practice at Green-Wood, in the fall, to mow most of those leaves in place as a mulch. But, because that has resulted in a … Read more

Daffodils in Memory of 9/11

A new planting has just gone in on the hill off Oak Avenue, directly in the line of the gaze of the bronze Horace Greeley across the road. Approximately seventy victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 are interred at Green-Wood Cemetery. Several of them, including three firemen from … Read more

Zinc, You Think?

Carol Grissom is the senior objects conservator at the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute. For thirty years she has studied American and European zinc sculpture. When it comes to zinc sculpture, Carol is the expert. Her book, Zinc Sculpture in America 1850-1959, has just been published. It is the bible on this subject. Have I mentioned … Read more

Late Bloomers

It has been an unusually warm fall at Green-Wood. Many flowers continue to bloom. Here, a few that are still in their glory. Most of these are in the gardens near our Arches, our front gates. The brownstone retains heat, creating a warmer area for plants. These gardens were planted by Superintendent of the Grounds … Read more

The Eagles Have Landed

The Green-Wood Historic Fund’s Restoration and Preservation Program is truly cutting edge. No other cemetery in America has as active and as wide-reaching a program. Headed by Frank Morelli, it has rebuilt entire monuments with pieces dug out of the ground or molded as needed. It has restored wings and hands to angels. It has … Read more