Events

Batter up! To ring in the 2015 season, we’ll welcome Tom Gilbert, member of the Society for Baseball Research (SABR – the folks who brought you “Moneyball”) and author of a new book on baseball’s formative years, for a tour of the fascinating ball-playing pioneers interred at Green-Wood.

With Tom and Green-Wood Historian Jeff Richman, you’ll visit the monuments and markers of Henry Chadwick, the Father of Baseball, who invented the game’s scoring system; James Creighton, baseball’s first national star; Charles Ebbets, owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers; the great hitter Charlie Smith; and many others who played a role in making baseball America’s National Pastime.

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Landmarks Law with a tour celebrating Green-Wood’s connections to beloved NYC landmarks. With expert tour guide Matt Postal, study designated landmarks within Green-Wood’s own 478 acres, like Richard Upjohn and Son’s magnificent gothic archway (celebrating its 150th birthday this year), as well as several sites with landmark connections – like a 1911 chapel by Warren and Wetmore; the monuments of architects including Gamaliel King (Brooklyn Borough Hall), James Renwick (St. Patrick’s Cathedral), and James McComb (Gracie Mansion, City Hall); a mausoleum designed by the renowned Stanford White, and more.

Green-Wood’s 478 acres of rolling hills, tree coverage, glacial ponds and natural grasses are the perfect place to celebrate nature, study ecology, and learn about the rich renewal resources right at our feet. “Wildman” Steve Brill has been using urban green space to teach New Yorkers about edible wild plants for 33 years, and his walk through Green-Wood will use our historic landscape to teach adults and kids alike about safe foraging practices, and which delicious foods are ripe for the picking.

For the first time, we’re opening Green-Wood’s gates afterhours for an exclusive workshop in night photography. Gabriel Biderman, author of Night Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots, and visual artist and educator Matt Hill will lead you in this hands-on workshop dedicated to capturing the essence of Green-Wood art and architecture at night. Long exposures and light painting will be the focus (so a tripod, cable release, and SLR camera are mandatory). A comfort shooting in manual and bulb mode is also recommended.

Green-Wood is home to nearly 8,000 trees, and boasts one of the largest collections of mature trees in the city. On this walk, Green-Wood’s 478 acres will be your classroom as you stroll the grounds with an expert Green-Wood guide, and learn to identify trees based on their leaves, bark, roots, and form. Enjoy a spring day in nature and learn something, too!

Do not attempt to adjust your dials – our spring colors really are that vibrant! Green-Wood’s Superintendent of Grounds and resident expert in all things green (and pink, yellow, white and purple), Art Presson will dazzle you with the extraordinary beauty of the spring blooms at Green-Wood. Whether you’re the kind of person who sees white petals and says “that’s a Cornus florida flowering dogwood!” or you’re more the “that’s pretty—I wonder what it’s called” kind of person, this tour will be a visual extravaganza. With over 8,000 trees across 478 acres, Green-Wood is one of the most beautiful sites in all of New York City.

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.