Common Shade: Catherine Gallant on Isadora Duncan’s Dances of Mourning
Green-Wood Cemetery 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY, United StatesIn the early 20th century, Isadora Duncan's innovative dances changed the art world forever. But it was the sudden death of her children that most influenced her life and work. After losing her two young children to drowning, Duncan poured her grief into dance. She created her Grande Marche and other dances expressing grief, mortality, and mourning, as well as remembrance and rebirth. Catherine Gallant is a student of Duncan, and regularly performs these dances. She'll perform these emotional dances to live music, before discussing Duncan's process, her relationship to her children's death, and how Gallant connects to Duncan and her artistic outpouring of grief.
Common Shade: Dr. Seth A. Gopin on the Rural Cemetery in Paris and Beyond
Green-Wood Cemetery 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY, United StatesBeginning in the Middle Ages, the dead lay among the living in Paris city centers. Over time, Parisian graveyards, like all inner city burial places, ran out of room. The creation of Père Lachaise Cemetery was the culmination of a struggle to reform burial practices, and this radical idea of a “cemetery” became the basis for all the burial traditions in the west, including Brooklyn’s own Green-Wood. Dr. Gopin’s lecture will trace the tradition of mass burial in Parisian church graveyards to the modern idea of the world’s first cemetery, Père Lachaise, in 1804. Dr. Gopin will discuss how this shift influenced our attitudes toward death, and how his background affects his own feelings and relationship with the topic.
(Sold Out) Brooklyn By Name Trolley Tour
Green-Wood Cemetery 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY, United StatesBergen, Schermerhorn, Martense, Havemeyer, Berry, Tompkins…to New Yorkers, these are household names. They grace our roads, our subway stations, and our parks. So how did these names come to be NYC fixtures? In most cases, these ubiquitous names are all attached to influential and powerful city dwellers of the 19th-century. They also all happen to be buried at Green-Wood. Join expert tour guide Ruth Edebohls on this tour to the final resting places of the people who bear the names we know so well. You’ll learn about their lives, their businesses, and how they become powerful enough to have a street named after them.
Inventors Club: Elias Howe
Green-Wood Cemetery 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY, United StatesLearn about Elias Howe, inventor of the sewing machine! You’ll learn about Howe and his rival, Isaac Singer, by exploring historic newspaper clippings and ads. Then a hands-on workshop will teach you how to bring sewing into the 21st century, with soft circuitry technology that creates light-up clothing. You’ll even get a chance to reprogram the circuitry to light up in different ways!
Commemoration of the Battle of Brooklyn
Green-Wood Cemetery 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY, United StatesThe Battle of Brooklyn, fought in 1776 on land that is now a part of Green-Wood, was the first battle of the American Revolution to be waged after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. On the 238th anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn, Green-Wood hosts a day of free commemoration ceremonies, trolley tours, and 18th-century living. See parades, cannon fire, horse rides, re-enactments and historic cooking. Living history events and activities will offer kids a real feel for life during the American Revolution. This is a great event for kids and families!
City Stories, City Spirit: Write with NY Writers Coalition!
Are you working on a memoir, a poem, or a story and looking for some friendly feedback? Or maybe you just want to put pen to paper and see what happens. This summer let the exquisite monuments, stunning grounds, and timeless history of Green-Wood inspire you to do just that. Join NY Writers Coalition for six weeks of writing within the tranquil gates of Green-Wood. Utilizing the historic landscape of the cemetery, these workshops are designed to help you generate new writing and connect with your craft on a deeper level, with every nook offering inspiration and enlightenment. Writers of all genres, backgrounds, and levels of experience are welcome.
Inventors Club: Frederick August Otto Schwarz
Green-Wood Cemetery 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY, United StatesLearn about how FAO Schwarz went from being a new immigrant in America to owning one of the most famous toy stores in the country! Not only did FAO Schwartz own the most beloved toy store in New York, but his great-grandson is a pioneering civil rights advocate for city dwellers. Learn about the many ways this ambitious family shaped the city, through historic ads and newspapers. Once you’ve become acquainted with FAO Schwartz and his history, design your own electronic toys using motors, sensors, and your imagination!
Pencil Passion
Green-Wood Cemetery 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY, United StatesRing in the new school year with a look at the hidden history inside your pencil case. Those age-old writing tools may seem humdrum, but in the early years of pencil production in America, the tiny tools were the focus of fierce competition. American companies, including several in New York, vied for customers through new ideas, designs, and advertisements. In Green-Wood’s Historic Chapel, we’ll explore the history, development, and simple appeal of the pencil with Caroline Weaver, lifelong pencil enthusiast and owner of the new Lower East Side shop CW Pencils. Caroline will discuss the crowded pencil market of the 19th and early 20th century, including the innovations of successful pencil man Eberhard Faber, buried at Green-Wood in 1879. Beautiful and varied examples of pencils from Caroline’s personal collection will be on display, along with historic advertisements and other objects. After the talk, the Green-Wood trolley will bring you to Faber’s monument to pay your respect to the pencil king – and do a grave rubbing using some of his storied graphite, too.
Green-Wood Benefit
The 8th Annual Presentation of the De Witt Clinton Award for Excellence, honoring:
John Turturro
Actor, Writer and Director
Malcolm MacKay
Citizen, Businessman, Lawyer and Author
(Sold Out) Tree Pruning Workshop
Green-Wood Cemetery 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY, United StatesCalling all amateur arborists and horticultural hopefuls! Join Board Certified Master Arborist Kevin Wyatt and Green-Wood’s Curator of Plant Collections Joe Charap for this hands-on demonstration on how to effectively prune your trees and shrubs. A thoughtful and well executed pruning will keep your plants looking great and growing strong. You’ll practice using hand pruners, lopers, and pole pruners and learn the proper techniques behind sanitary, reduction, and developmental pruning. Participants will be working in Green-Wood on small trees and shrubs. Tools and protective equipment will be provided.
Green-Wood’s public programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, as well as the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
