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Theresa LaBianca started working at Green-Wood Cemetery in 1977 as an administrative assistant. She has just retired. In the almost 41 years she was at Green-Wood, Theresa did a lot of day-to-day work with Green-Wood’s records, helping it function as a cemetery. But it is clear that the best part of the work, as far … Read more
I recently came across a listing for an online auction for a half-plate daguerreotype photograph of Samuel E. Darling and his wife, Margaret Broadbent Darling. As per the listing, the seller had determined that they were married on August 4, 1851, and lived in New York City. Their identification was based on their names that … Read more
By the 1850s, Green-Wood was second only to Niagara Falls as an American tourist attraction. Many guides were written over the years describing Green-Wood’s grounds. Those guides offer great and varied information. Always on the lookout to increase my Green-Wood knowledge, I recently came across a guide to Green-Wood from 1901, written by Louisa Richardson: … Read more
By the 1850s, Green-Wood was the place for burials of New York City residents. The great heroes of that era were firemen–the Firemen’s Monument had been established at Green-Wood in 1848. We recently came across a full-page ad by American Antiques of Oxford, Maryland, in Maine Antique Digest, for a “Rare and Important New York … Read more
In Saturday’s New York Times, in a front page article about Attorney General Andrew Coumo’s announcement of his candidacy for New York’s governorship, this was found: “Appearing in front of the former Manhattan courthouse named for Boss Tweed, the corrupt political boss of Tammany Hall, Mr. Cuomo told a crowd of supporters: “Unfortunately, Albany’s antics today … Read more
Green-Wood has come a long way in its 177 years. It started out in 1838 as a revolutionary idea: no more graveyard burials, but rather a rural cemetery, Christian non-demoninational, with acres of trees and ponds, miles of winding roads and paths, serving New York City and Brooklyn. It then struggled to get people to … Read more
This Saturday and Sunday, volunteers, in character and costume, will fan out across Green-Wood’s grounds to present a production like no other: “Open ‘Houses.” Last year, for the first time, the Green-Wood Historic Fund opened up many of its mausoleums to the public for the first time. For the blog post on that weekend, click … Read more
570,000 people are interred across Green-Wood’s 478 acres. Essential to the cemetery’s business is keeping track of each of these burials–and places for future interments. For each interment, there are likely multiple documents from many archival sets recording relevant information. One of the sets in Green-Wood’s archives is its blueprints. Formerly housed in the cemetery’s … Read more
Yesterday, “A Beautiful Way to Go: New York’s Green-Wood Cemetery,” opened at the Museum of the City of New York. The exhibition is a celebration of Green-Wood’s extraordinary 175 years. It is a great opportunity to educate the public about the cemetery’s history (by the 1850s, Green-Wood was attracting half a million visitors a year … Read more
The more I see of Green-Wood, the more amazed I am. It’s a big place: 561,000 burials, 478 acres, 7,000 trees, tens of thousands of monuments. I’ve been wandering its grounds for twenty years now. And, I am still seeing so many things that I’ve never seen before.