Green-Wood Stories

Go Behind the Scenes at Brooklyn’s Historic Cemetery

 

A Roosevelt Rough Rider

Born in New York State in 1873, Charles A. Armstrong, as a young college graduate, headed out to California to seek has fortune. He settled in San Jose, where he briefly co-owned a bicycle business. There, on New Years Eve, 1894, he married eighteen-year-old Alice Snitzer. In 1897, Charles was off to Arizona on a … Read more

Bullet That Killed Him–17 Years Later

Since 2007, our Civil War Project volunteers have been going through the cemetery’s chronological books, looking for men of appropriate age to have served in the Civil War. When they come across one, they fill out a form with the information for that individual: name, birthplace, late residence, place of death, age at time of … Read more

“Civic Virtue”

Since the 1850s, Green-Wood Cemetery has been a sculpture garden. Back then, there was little if any public sculpture in New York City or Brooklyn. If you wanted to see sculpture, you went off to Green-Wood to see it. And that tradition of Green-Wood as sculpture garden has continued: in 2002, we added the bronze … Read more

Green-Wood Artist, Inspired By Other Green-Wood Artists

Since its founding, Green-Wood Cemetery has inspired artists with the magnificence of its grounds. The gravestones, sculptures, vistas, trees, blooms, and gardens have all moved artists to do what they do best: create their art. David Listokin is an artist within this tradition. David, a trained artist, attended the performance of “Angels and Accordions” last … Read more

Born in March

March 2, 1769: One of the most revered public figures of the early 19th-century, De Witt Clinton, served as a United States Senator, mayor of New York City, and governor of New York State.  He was also the prime visionary behind the Erie Canal. Upon his death in 1828, Clinton was interred in the Little … Read more

50 Years Ago Today

On March 2, 1961, exactly 50 years ago today, the remains of Harold Hartshorne and his wife Louisa were interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in the Hartshorne family lot, lot 16689. On February 15, 1961, Harold and Louisa had flown out of what was then Idlewild Airport (now Kennedy Airport) with the United States Figure Skating … Read more

No Longer Free Wheelin’

Susan Elizabeth Rotolo died last Friday. Her remains were cremated at Green-Wood on Saturday. Though few would recognize her name, she did have her moment of fame. From 1961 into 1964, she was Bob Dylan’s girlfriend. She is the woman, with Dylan, on the cover of his album, “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan,” released by Columbia … Read more

We’re #1!

Thinking of exploring Brooklyn? Wondering what would be your best choice of a place to go? Well, how about The Green-Wood Cemetery? Green-Wood’s fans have made it the NUMBER ONE attraction in all of Brooklyn on Trip Advisor! Go here to read what some of our fans love about this incredible place. Thanks to all … Read more

First American Heavyweight Champ

Tom Hyer was born on January 1, 1819. His father was a prizefighter and Tom grew up to be a fine specimen of a man: 6 feet 2 and one-half inches, 190 pounds. In addition to his size, Hyer had the mentality and the heart for fighting. By the time he reached his early 20s, … Read more

Free Again

Green-Wood is many things: park, sculpture garden, arboretum, and wildlife preserve, to name a few. We recently added another bird to our population…