Some of the very best work in historic preservation – the restoration of old structures and monuments that give a city its character and history – is being done right here in Brooklyn. Whether at Green-Wood, with its tens of thousands of gravestones, mausoleums, stained glass windows, and landmarked structures, or across the borough, these important projects are keeping Brooklyn in the forefront of the field. Come hear about best practices that ensure that our most beautiful structures do not vanish from the borough’s ever-changing landscape.

This trolley tour will focus on the monuments of immigrants and underrepresented groups, for whom written records, newspaper clippings, and obituaries are often nonexistent. And for whom, the gravestone and cemetery records – an oft overlooked resource – are the only way to preserve their legacy. While all New Yorkers play in important role in the lives of their families and their communities, some – especially in the nineteenth century – leave very few traces for posterity.

Green-Wood is the final resting place of many famous and heroic figures in American history, but some of its deceased denizens have a more blemished reputation. Veteran tour guide Ruth Edebohls leads a thrilling exploration featuring the lives of murderers and the murdered, sullied adulteress Elizabeth Tilton and famed courtesan Lola Montez, as well as gangsters (Albert Anastasia and Joe Gallo), conmen, and schemers who count among Green-Wood’s most notorious permanent residents.

Green-Wood is teaming up with our friends at Kings County Distillery to delve into the storied past of distilling in Brooklyn. The afternoon kicks off with a trolley tour of the cemetery’s “permanent residents” with whiskey connections, including the one and only casualty of the Brooklyn Whiskey Wars of the late 1860s and early 1870s. Afterward, the trolley will head to Kings County Distillery in the Brooklyn Navy Yard where visitors will see first-hand how whiskey is made and enjoy a tasting of four delectable varieties.