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Gottschalk and Friends

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Louis Moreau Gottschalk was one of America’s first matinee idols and international superstars. A child prodigy as a pianist, he left his home city of New Orleans for Paris at the age of 12 to learn his craft. He soon became a sensation in Europe, America, and South America. Gottschalk has been called “America’s first … Read more

Lincoln’s Telegrapher

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Sue Ramsey was not surprised she had received a Google alert about Green-Wood Cemetery. After all, though Sue lives all the way across the country in California, she has been a huge fan of Green-Wood for years. It is at Green-Wood that the passion of her life, Civil War Captain Samuel Sims, lies. Sue is … Read more

Eugenia’s Got A Brand New Urn

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In 1907, opera singer Ada Eugenia von Boos-Farrar became the first person to have her singing voice broadcast on the radio. Almost three years ago, in October, 2010, Eugenia Farrar’s ashes, after a ceremony in her honor, were placed into a ceramic urn in a  Green-Wood niche. Here is the blog post about that event. … Read more

Finally Together

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In April, I posted “In Memoriam: Captain Richard V.W. Thorne, Jr.” In that blog post, I discussed my purchase, on behalf of The Green-Wood Historic Fund, of a memorial book, created in 1875 upon Captain Thorne’s death by the men who served in the Brooklyn City Guard with him. I also reported that he was … Read more

Discovering Green-Wood’s Architects

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Over my years, I have learned that often one thing leads to another. That happened again recently. A few months ago I purchased a carte de visite photographic portrait on the front of which was written, “Alexr. Saeltzer. Archt.” I recognized that name as that of a 19th-century New York City architect (who designed the … Read more

“Photography and the American Civil War”

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A landmark exhibition, “Photography and the American Civil War,” is now open at The Metropolitan Museum. Featuring 200 photographs, some classics, some obscure, the exhibition is spectacular. If you have any interest at all in photography and/or history, don’t miss it. Photography and the Civil War go hand in hand. Much of what we know … Read more

Mark Their Graves

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As Memorial Day rapidly approaches, we think of the men and women who have sacrificed so much in service to this country. We honor their service. In 2002, we launched Green-Wood’s Civil War Project. We wanted to identify and locate the graves of Civil War veterans who are interred at Green-Wood. And, over the years, … Read more

“A Beautiful Way To Go”

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Yesterday, “A Beautiful Way to Go: New York’s Green-Wood Cemetery,” opened at the Museum of the City of New York. The exhibition is a celebration of Green-Wood’s extraordinary 175 years. It is a great opportunity to educate the public about the cemetery’s history (by the 1850s, Green-Wood was attracting half a million visitors a year … Read more