Follow us on Twitter!

We’re expanding our social networking to allow all our readers of the Green-Wood Discovery blog to follow us on Twitter. @greenwoodhf will repost all new blog entries via our RSS feed, so whether you visit our blog to read new post or are a fan on facebook, you can follow us on Twitter as well … Read more

Stairway to Heaven

  Imre Kiralfy was born in 1845 in Budapest and made his stage debut at the age of four, danced in Germany’s principle theaters, and studied music. By his early 20s he was organizing pageants; his colossal presentation in Brussels in 1868 included opera, pantomimes, sports, and 4000 soldiers. He came to America the next year and … Read more

Arches: Back in View

Green-Wood Cemetery’s main entrance, at 25th Street and Fifth Avenue, is adorned by spectacular brownstone arches. Designed by Richard Upjohn (the architect of Trinity Church at the head of Wall Street in Manhattan and the first president of the American Institute of Architects) and his son, Richard M. Upjohn (who is interred at Green-Wood), the … Read more

On The 25th Day of Christmas: 25 Hornbeams

The New York Restoration Project (NYRP), founded and sponsored by entertainer/philanthropist Bette Midler, and a part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s MillionTreesNYC, has returned to Green-Wood Cemetery. In the summer of 2008, Green-Wood Superintendent of Grounds Operation Art Presson was approached by NYRP leaders. They thought our grounds would be a great place to plant trees … Read more

Happy Holidays, Historic Fund Volunteers

This has been a great year for our Green-Wood Historic Fund volunteers–our best yet. Volunteers staffed our new Historic Fund cart, welcoming visitors to historic Green-Wood Cemetery, answering their questions, and selling self-guided walking tours, books, and other items. Other volunteers worked on our Civil War Project, coming in once a month to search the … Read more

Welcome to Green-Wood Discovery!

Welcome to the Green-wood Discovery blog. My name is Jeff Richman and I am the historian at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Green-Wood is truly a remarkable place: 478 acres of trees, sculpture, ponds, gardens, and grass-covered hills in the heart of urban Brooklyn. It is my privilege to be the historian at Green-Wood … Read more

Green-Wood Connections Everywhere: Philadelphia

More from the “if I travel, I can usually find something pertaining to Green-Wood Cemetery” files. On a recent visit to Philadelphia, we headed off towards the Rodin Museum. As I drove, my friend navigated, with a map on her lap. As we arrived near the museum, she asked me, “Who was Henry George?” The … Read more

A Great Gravestone, Resurrected

Nathaniel Currier started his lithography printing company that would be become the famous firm of Currier and Ives (both Currier and Ives are interred, of course, at Green-Wood Cemetery) in the 1830’s, printing letterheads, sheet music, and other routine business items. But, in 1835, Currier headed in a new direction: illustrated news. It was in … Read more