Last week, The Green-Wood Historic Fund held its fifth annual benefit. And it was quite a celebration of what certainly was the Historic Fund’s greatest year: a new app of Green-Wood was released, a record number of trolley tours and new highs in attendance at a broad range of events were achieved, a great “Open … Read more
The Green-Wood Cemetery honors those lost in the terrorist attacks on this anniversary of September 11th.
Eight years ago, Green-Wood launched its “Restoration in Progress” program. At the cutting edge of cemetery monument restorations, it has, since its founding, been led by Frank Morelli. Frank has studied gravestone restoration and has pioneered in the use of a broad range of techniques, including the use of molds to recreate casts of missing … Read more
Our annual Battle of Brooklyn commemoration was bigger and better than ever this year. On Sunday, August 26, we commemorated the 236th anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn (the battle was fought on August 27, 1776)–and it was a wonderful day all around. The Battle of Brooklyn, a good deal of which was fought across … Read more
It has been less than a week since about 50 gravestones at Green-Wood were vandalized. I was out on the grounds Friday morning. The damage is even more aggravating when examined closely. For instance, I knew that an small angel had had its head snapped off after being pushed off its base and crashing to … Read more
Tuesday morning started out like any other summer day at Green-Wood. About 90 men and women who work on the cemetery grounds reported for work and headed out to mow the lawns, trim the grass, and weed the gardens. But, something was not right, as Ken Nielsen, acting foreman of the south zone, discovered. And … Read more
On August 27, 1920, the 144th anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn, the first battle of the American Revolution after the Declaration of Independence was issued and the largest battle of that war, a bronze sculpture of Minerva was unveiled on Green-Wood’s Battle Hill. Battle Hill was a key point in the Battle of Brooklyn–a … Read more
I spent much of this past Sunday exploring the South Street Seaport area. I’ve been wandering around that neighborhood for years. My last law office–when I was practicing law for The Legal Aid Society, Criminal Appeals Bureau, before I morphed into Green-Wood’s full-time historian, was at 199 Water Street. That was four years ago. Much … Read more
Our Civil War Project began in 2002, and has been going strong for almost 10 years now. Volunteers have searched the grounds for anything (an inscription, a marker, a symbol) indicating the interment of a Civil War veteran. We have compared 172,000 names of men who enlisted in Brooklyn or New York City against the … Read more
An enthusiastic crowd gathered this past Saturday to witness the unveiling of “The Greeter,” sculptor John Coleman’s gift to Green-Wood in honor of George Catlin, the father of art of the American West. For background on this event, go here. And you may read another entry about Catlin that has appeared in this blog here. … Read more