Tour

This spring marks the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. And Green-Wood is proud to be the final resting place of over 5,000 Civil War veterans and other contributors to the war effort. For one night, Green-Wood will be transformed into a Civil War-era commemoration and festival, with the Grand Procession as the main event - a spectacular walk across Green-Wood’s grounds, aglow with 5,000 honorary candles, and featuring a brass band, artillery fire, a chorus, cavalry horses, and re-enactors in uniform.

Join re-enactors and musicians in a parade to Green-Wood’s Civil War Soldiers’ Lot for a ceremony. Bring a blanket and enjoy a free early summer concert – a NYC favorite. And take a special trolley tour with Green-Wood Historian Jeff Richman right after the concert, featuring Green-Wood highlights and veteran connections.

Kick off Brooklyn Pride Week (June 8 – 13) in a most unique way, with an LGBT-themed trolley tour of Green-Wood! Tour guide Phil Desiere – who leads tours of Greenwich Village, Central Park, and other NYC sights – will illuminate stories of Green-Wood ‘permanent residents’ who were openly gay, including “It’s Raining Men” co-author Paul Jabara, and others who were probably gay or bisexual, like Violet Oakley, a member of a “Boston marriage.”

Plus you’ll visit the final resting places of those who contributed to LGBT culture in fun, surprising ways, including Louis Comfort Tiffany, the artist and businessman whose fancy New York City atelier is the namesake of gay novelist Truman Capote’s smash hit, Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Join Green-Wood historian and exhibition curator Jeff Richman for a behind-the-scenes tour of To Bid You All Good Bye: Civil War Stories. Visitors will explore the inspiration behind the exhibition, learn about the process of selecting these compelling stories, and get insights on the exhibition from the curator himself.

Following the exhibition tour, Richman will lead a trolley tour through Green-Wood to visit the gravesites of several individuals highlighted in the exhibition.

Most New Yorkers and Americans never saw combat in the Civil War, but many civilians still contributed to the War effort in meaningful ways. Celebrate those individuals at this program with historian and curator Jeff Richman. For one night only, Green-Wood’s exhibition To Bid You All Good Bye: Civil War Stories will be enhanced - featuring additional stories and objects that particularly pertain to civilian efforts at wartime. Learn of patriotic deeds by New Yorkers including Reverend Gordon Winslow and Rebecca Winslow, who founded the Sanitary Commission to support sick and wounded soldiers; Simeon Chittenden, who paid bounties to 14th Brooklyn recruits from his own funds; Ann Vanderpoel—founder of the Ladies Home Hospital; and many others. New items, including original promotional posters from the Sanitary Fair, will be on display in the exhibition for this day only! Following the exhibition tour, Richman will lead a trolley tour through Green-Wood to visit the resting places of these important Civil War contributors.

Bergen, Schermerhorn, Martense, Havemeyer, Berry, Tompkins…to New Yorkers, these are household names. They grace our roads, our subway stations, and our parks. So how did these names come to be NYC fixtures? In most cases, these ubiquitous names are all attached to influential and powerful city dwellers of the 19th-century. They also all happen to be buried at Green-Wood. Join expert tour guide Ruth Edebohls on this tour to the final resting places of the people who bear the names we know so well. You’ll learn about their lives, their businesses, and how they become powerful enough to have a street named after them.

The Battle of Brooklyn, fought in 1776 on land that is now a part of Green-Wood, was the first battle of the American Revolution to be waged after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. On the 238th anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn, Green-Wood hosts a day of free commemoration ceremonies, trolley tours, and 18th-century living. See parades, cannon fire, horse rides, re-enactments and historic cooking. Living history events and activities will offer kids a real feel for life during the American Revolution. This is a great event for kids and families!

Ring in the new school year with a look at the hidden history inside your pencil case. Those age-old writing tools may seem humdrum, but in the early years of pencil production in America, the tiny tools were the focus of fierce competition. American companies, including several in New York, vied for customers through new ideas, designs, and advertisements. In Green-Wood’s Historic Chapel, we’ll explore the history, development, and simple appeal of the pencil with Caroline Weaver, lifelong pencil enthusiast and owner of the new Lower East Side shop CW Pencils. Caroline will discuss the crowded pencil market of the 19th and early 20th century, including the innovations of successful pencil man Eberhard Faber, buried at Green-Wood in 1879. Beautiful and varied examples of pencils from Caroline’s personal collection will be on display, along with historic advertisements and other objects. After the talk, the Green-Wood trolley will bring you to Faber’s monument to pay your respect to the pencil king – and do a grave rubbing using some of his storied graphite, too.

Calling all amateur arborists and horticultural hopefuls! Join Board Certified Master Arborist Kevin Wyatt and Green-Wood’s Curator of Plant Collections Joe Charap for this hands-on demonstration on how to effectively prune your trees and shrubs. A thoughtful and well executed pruning will keep your plants looking great and growing strong. You’ll practice using hand pruners, lopers, and pole pruners and learn the proper techniques behind sanitary, reduction, and developmental pruning. Participants will be working in Green-Wood on small trees and shrubs. Tools and protective equipment will be provided.

Join Thomas W. Gilbert, baseball historian and author, to celebrate his newly published book Playing First: Early Baseball Lives at Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery. Gilbert is an expert in baseball's 19th-century New York City and Brooklyn origins, and Green-Wood's history there is unmatched - an astounding number of early baseball innovators and players are interred at the cemetery. Playing First is the culmination of Gilbert's extensive research into the little known professional, political, and military lives of these baseball pioneers. In Green-Wood's Historic Chapel, Gilbert will reveal many fascinating stories included in his newly published book, including the truth about what actually killed famed baseball martyr James Creighton, and how a feud between baseball and cricket in early America changed Creighton's legacy forever. After the talk, Gilbert will sign books before leading a trolley tour of baseball pioneers with Green-Wood Historian Jeff Richman.

Explore the frenzied world of New York City news and media. This panel, featuring Untapped Cities founder Michelle Young, journalist and urban planner Julia Vitullo-Martin, and Brokelyn News Editor David Colon, will trace the early boom days of New York City newspapers to the current upheaval in media. In the 19th century, the pioneers of news and publishing loomed large in New York society, and they made their impact on the landscape, too, by building massive and imposing headquarters downtown. Many of these early players are now buried together at Green-Wood, including Horace Greeley, founder of the New York Tribune; James Harper, founder of Harper & Brothers; and Henry Raymond, founder of the New York Times. But the media world doesn’t stand still for long, and our panelists will detail the seismic shifts the industry has endured in the 20th and 21st centuries. Media has moved from downtown flagships, to uptown rented space, to bloggers working from their living rooms. Where will it go next? Young, Vitullo-Martin, and Colon will take a stab at answering that question. Following the talk, a trolley tour will visit the monuments of the great newspaper men of the 19th century.

Don’t miss one of Green-Wood’s most popular events! For one day only, we’re opening many of our most impressive and elaborate mausoleums for public perusal. Peek inside massive stone slabs and elaborate iron-wrought doors as you step inside stunning examples of Green-Wood’s distinct architecture. This self-guided tour will include the Egyptian Revival tomb of John Taylor Johnston, an early president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the ornamental Nichols mausoleum which served as a kind of hostel for Nichols friends and family; the imposing mausoleum of the Dewey’s, a family of early American settlers; and several more . At each stop, “house” docents will offer a glimpse into the lives of the personalities who now rest in these opulent structures. Bring your sneakers and walk the route, or use the Green-Wood trolley for “Hop on, hop off” service between each site. A handy map, provided at the main entrance, will show the locations of each open house.