As Memorial Day rapidly approaches, we think of the men and women who have sacrificed so much in service to this country. We honor their service. In 2002, we launched Green-Wood’s Civil War Project. We wanted to identify and locate the graves of Civil War veterans who are interred at Green-Wood. And, over the years, … 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
Hurricane Sandy, with intense winds across Green-Wood’s 478 acres a few months ago, toppled, snapped off, and broke into pieces about 300 of our 7,000 trees. Now, in order to make amends, and at the same time bring to fruition several long-anticipated tree-planting projects, Art Presson, Green-Wood’s superintendent of the grounds, has gotten to work … Read more
Recently, I came across an online item for sale. Here’s what it looks like: Not very impressive on the outside. But, on the inside . . . It was described by the seller as follows: An original and very ornate one of a kind MEMORIAL book prepared by the BROOKLYN CITY GUARD, an early Militia … Read more
This is a guest blog by Benjamin Feldman, a great Green-Wood and New York City enthusiast who is the author of “Butchery on Bond Street: Sexual Politics and the Burdell-Cunningham Murder Case in Ante-Bellum New York” and “Call Me Daddy: Babes and Bathos in Edward West Browning’s Jazz-Age New York.” Ben blogs at The New … Read more
The Green-Wood Historic Fund recently lent a magnificent bronze of Civil War Brigadier General Thomas Sweeny to the exhibition, “American Heroes in Bronze: The Artwork of James E. Kelly,” at Macculloch Hall Historical Museum in Morristown, New Jersey. You will find more on Sweeny’s fascinating story, from an earlier blog post, here. As the museum … Read more
This Friday, the much-ballyhooed 3D movie, Oz The Great and Powerful, a prequel to the classic 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz,” opens across the country. It stars James Franco as Oz. Here’s the video trailer. Which, of course, reminds us that veteran actor Frank Morgan reached the pinnacle of his career when he played … Read more
Ever on the watch for items for our Green-Wood Historic Fund Collections, I recently came across this photograph. And, after doing some research, I purchased it for Green-Wood. That name–Alexander Saeltzer–rang a bell for me–I am quite the fan of 19th-century New York City architecture and architects. So, I did some research. It turns out … Read more