Jeff Richman Where has Anthony Berger gone? In the 1860s, Anthony Berger ran Mathew Brady’s Washington D.C. National Photographic Art Gallery. It was Berger who, during the Civil War, took some of the most famous portraits of President Abraham Lincoln. But, as noted in Mathew Brady and His World, “[c]amera operators came and went . . .” … Read more
I started practicing law, fresh out of N.Y.U. Law School, in 1974. I worked representing indigent criminal defendants for the next 33 years, both at the trial and the appellate level. I enjoyed that work very much–I have always been a fan of the underdog, and little is more underdog that someone arrested and accused … Read more
I went up to Columbia University a few weeks ago to do some research on William F. Mangels. We are working on an exhibition in Green-Wood’s Historic Chapel, “William F. Mangels: Amusement Park King.” It was Mangels who invented many rides, including The Whip and The Tickler, and also pioneered the wave pool. He made … Read more
With over half a million people interred at Green-Wood, and tens of thousands of monuments across its grounds, Green-Wood has connections to many subjects. So it is with “The American West in Bronze, 1850-1925,” an exhibition that has just opened at The Metropolitan Museum: many of the sculptors whose work is on display also created … Read more
In Green-Wood’s early years, its visitors’ entrance was along 24th Street. However, when bars sprung up along the access road just outside the cemetery, Green-Wood decided it had to move its entrance. So, in 1860, Green-Wood hired Richard Upjohn, the first president of the American Institute of Architects, and his son, Richard Michell Upjohn, to … Read more
Green-Wood Cemetery is, at its core, a place of burial and mourning. But, it is much more than that. Since its founding in 1838, Green-Wood has functioned at many levels: quasi public park, sculpture garden, arboretum, bird habitat, and more. Historically, there has been a tension at Green-Wood over these layers of usage. In the … Read more
Sometimes showing up is a big part of the battle. But, even if you do show up, you have to make every effort to head in the right direction. I recently heard from Albin Lohr-Jones, who had come across a nice little marble sculpture at Green-Wood. When Albin found it, it looked to his eye like … Read more
This past Saturday, about 55 people gathered at Green-Wood’s Historic Chapel for the launch of the New York Chapter of the Association for Gravestones Studies. The Association for Gravestone Studies is described on its website as follows: The Association for Gravestone Studies (AGS) was founded in 1977 for the purpose of furthering the study and … Read more
Hurricane Sandy hit Green-Wood a year ago today. 300 trees were lost. And those trees took a toll as they crashed to the ground, landing on, and shattering, monuments and fences. But Green-Wood, as always, has bounced back–thanks to its extraordinary workers. In just the last few weeks, two important restoration projects–one of a marble … Read more
Green-Wood recently hosted its third annual “Open Houses” event. It is a great opportunity for volunteers to dress up in costume (from the Theater Development Fund) and get into character, greeting visitors to “their” mausoleums. And it is a wonderful chance for visitors to see Green-Wood as they have never seen it before–an inside look … Read more