In September, 2002, we launched The Green-Wood Historic Fund’s Civil War Project. Our goal was to identify those who had served, to tell their story, and to honor them. When we began, we naively thought, based on numbers from those who had searched Green-Wood Cemetery over the years, that there were 500 or so Civil … Read more
Green-Wood Cemetery stretches across 478 acres. It has 561,000 permanent residents. Tens of thousands of monuments have been placed across its grounds. So, there never comes a time when you’ve seen it all. I’ve been wandering the cemetery grounds since 1990 and often see things I’ve never noticed before. A big “thank you” to Katie … Read more
It is a remarkable story–a tale of service, sacrifice, research, and discovery.
A few months ago I received an e-mail from Kevin Canberg. I didn’t know Kevin, but I was fascinated by his e-mail. Here’s what Kevin wrote:
Carol Grissom is the senior objects conservator at the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute. For thirty years she has studied American and European zinc sculpture. When it comes to zinc sculpture, Carol is the expert. Her book, Zinc Sculpture in America 1850-1959, has just been published. It is the bible on this subject. Have I mentioned … Read more
I was doing some research recently, helping a New York Times reporter with an article, and thought it would be interesting to find out how the frequency of burials at Green-Wood has changed over the cemetery’s history. Though Green-Wood was chartered by New York State on April 18, 1838, is was more than two years … Read more
Well, we did know that Edwin Bennett was interred at Green-Wood and had served in the Civil War. His obituary in The New York Times told us that much. But we couldn’t find the details of his service. That’s where Sue Ramsey, a truly remarkable researcher, came in. Sue, who lives out in California, loves … Read more
A couple of months ago, I did a cemetery tour for the Bayport Heritage Association. It was quite an interesting experience with a very enthusiastic group. One of the pleasures of doing tours for such groups is my opportunity to learn from them. Though I’ve been doing tours of Green-Wood since 1990, I can only fit so much into my brain.