Before Annie Leibovitz and Richard Avedon, there was another photographer who the rich and famous turned to take their portrait: Napoleon Sarony (1821-1896). Over the course of three decades, working from several locations around Union Square in New York City, he artfully captured images of presidents, actors, theatrical productions, and international superstars including Oscar Wilde, Sarah Bernhardt, Lillie Langtry, and ... Read more

For millennia, people around the globe did not simply live beside or under trees—they lived with them. It was a symbiotic relationship, not an exploitative one. Proper human care for the woodlands increased their diversity and promoted the number and variety of insects, birds, and other creatures who lived in the forests. The trees themselves ... Read more

In the Victorian era, floriography—or the language of flowers—was a sensation, with bouquets and arrangements often carrying cryptic meanings. You would need a flora dictionary (no joke!) to decipher them.   This interest in the symbolism of flowers made its way into fashion, art, and even cemeteries, where roses, poppies, daisies, and lilies all held specific ... Read more

They say money can’t buy you everything, but that’s only mostly true. For this evening’s virtual exploration, Green-Wood’s historian Jeff Richman and The Woodlawn Cemetery’s Director of Historical Services Susan Olsen, take you behind closed doors to discover some of the most opulent and elaborate mausoleums at their cemeteries. Commissioned by the crème de la ... Read more