My most recent book, “The Gallant Sims”: A Civil War Hero Rediscovered, was published by The Green-Wood Historic Fund in 2016. It is the story of Samuel Harris Sims, a brave and noble man, who in 1861 left his work as a glass stainer in Brooklyn to fight to preserve the Union during the Civil … Read more
Green-Wood has millions and millions of records pertaining to the 574,000 individuals who are interred there. Sometimes the briefest of notations in these records can trigger a search through history–and uncover a long-forgotten story. Bob Moogan is a Green-Wood volunteer. Recently retired as an accountant, Bob decided that he wanted to explore history. So, for … Read more
Visitors to Green-Wood today are welcome to explore the cemetery on their own, with the help of maps, apps, and/or self-guided walking tours, or on a tour led by a Historic Fund tour guide. But what, you may wonder, was it like to explore Green-Wood in its early years, soon after its founding in 1838? … Read more
Green-Wood stories–and my blog posts–touch upon many diverse topics. But I never thought that I would be blogging about Russia. I am usually out on the cemetery grounds a few times a week. With 574,000 interments, 7,000 trees, and tens of thousands of gravestones, there is so much to see! Sometimes I notice, for the … Read more
It is a fact of life–there is always (or almost always) someone out there who knows more than you do about something. It is pretty well known that Louis Comfort Tiffany designed stained glass windows for use in cemetery mausolea. There are several of those at Green-Wood. And, just a year ago, I was pretty … Read more
Sometimes, as we peruse Green-Wood’s massive archives, with millions of documents chronicling the lives of the 574,000 souls who are interred here, something unusual catches one’s eye. So it was for volunteer Jim Lambert, who recently worked for months recording the information from Green-Wood’s chronological books pertaining to each of the 1400 individuals who are … Read more
Green-Wood is fortunate to have Tony Cucchiara as its archivist. Tony knows what he is doing. He worked at Brooklyn College for years, before retiring from there as professor emeritus. He has taught generations of archivists who work at New York’s leading cultural institutions. He continues to educate budding archivists at Pratt. And for the … Read more
As Green-Wood’s historian, I never know where our next discovery will be coming from. I just know that it will arrive very soon. So it was this past Friday. I was working at Green-Wood, minding my own business. But, it turns out, an e-mail had just come in to our Green-aelogy supervisor, Christina Bickford. Christina, … Read more
The story of the Prentiss brothers of the Civil War is one of the most fascinating tales of that event. It has it all: brothers from a border state, with different loyalties, one going north to fight to preserve the Union, one going south to fight for the Confederacy. Then, after fighting for their cause … Read more
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 … Read more