Posted by Jeff Richman on November 15th, 2018

Sue Ramsey has done it again! Sue is one of Green-Wood's Civil War Project's wonderful--and tremendously dedicated--volunteer researchers. Retired from the Southern California Gas Company, she has been working her way, since 2005, through the now 5,200 volunteer-researched and written online Civil War biographies (thanks Susan Rudin for your incredible work translating all of this research into biographies!) of veterans who are interred at Green-Wood. Sue does careful and time-consuming follow-up research to flesh out biographies and solve mysteries. It was Sue who made it possible and inspired me to… Read more

Posted by Jeff Richman on November 6th, 2018

On Friday evening, November 1, 1918, a Brooklyn Rapid Transit subway train left the Park Row station in Manhattan, ran east across the East River, then south through Brooklyn. At 6:42 p.m., it crashed near the intersection of Malbone Street, Flatbush and Ocean Avenues; 93 people died and hundreds were injured. It was the deadliest transit disaster ever in New York City. 14 of the victims are interred at Green-Wood Cemetery. One of the lyrics in the hit musical "Hamilton" is "who will tell your story?" Part of our mission… Read more

Posted by Jeff Richman on August 20th, 2018

There is always another story to be discovered at Green-Wood. I was recently out in section 52, lots 8022-8027--the Bangs Family Lots--looking for a particular gravestone. These lots form a large circle, just feet from the intersection of Locust and Southwood Avenues. Several prominent people are interred in those lots, including Francis N. Bangs (1828-1885), a prominent lawyer who founded the precursor law firm to the very famous and existing firm of Davis, Polk, and Wardwell. Francis N. Bangs also was a founder of the New York City Bar Association… Read more

Posted by Jeff Richman on July 26th, 2018

After leading tours at Green-Wood for 28 years, I still love to create new ones. One of the virtues of doing new and different tours of Green-Wood:  I get to research and learn. So it is with my recent tour, "Sound the Alarm:  Green-Wood's Firemen." I knew, before I began this research, about several lots and monuments at the cemetery dedicated to firemen. However, as I prepared for this tour, I learned a great deal more. One story that has come together: that of hero Fireman William H. Nash. A… Read more

Posted by Jeff Richman on June 28th, 2018

How is your Green-Wood eye? There have been a few subtle changes out on the grounds in the last couple of weeks. Here's that story. Come visit and see for yourself! Several features of Green-Wood's grounds date back to its initial design by engineer David Bates Douglass (1790-1849). A graduate of Yale, class of 1813, Douglass trained as a military engineer and served as a miner and sapper during the War of 1812. He later taught natural philosophy at West Point. Douglass was a fascinating, multi-talented  man--he also took part… Read more