Yesterday, I was going through a cache of documents from Green-Wood’s early history, including a handwritten certified copy of its charter by the State of New York on April 18, 1838, as a rural cemetery. Looking through those records, I came upon an envelope with this image on it: This is really quite an image–and … Read more
I’ve collected many things over the years: baseball cards, trains, decoys, cookie jars, and much more. In the 1980s, I went through a stoneware phase. Stoneware was the tupperware of the late 18th century and most of the 19th century: an all purpose storage container. It could hold liquids and solids. American stoneware is a … Read more
I was wandering around Greenpoint a few days ago when I came upon the Eberhard Faber Pencil Company Historic District. Who knew? But, I must admit, I was very excited. I knew that Eberhard Faber is interred at Green-Wood Cemetery. That was enough for me to immediately fall in love with the E.F.P.C.H.D. (for short, … Read more
Yesterday was the 150th anniversary of the launching of the Monitor, the iron ship that changed naval warfare forever. On January 30, 1862, “The Monitor” was launched from the Continental Iron Works in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. President Abraham Lincoln personally approved the plans for the Monitor, saying,”All I have to say is what the girl said … Read more
We had our first snow of 2012 on Saturday–the first snow at Green-Wood since that historic snow at the end of October–when we got to see snow on the ground while trees were still in fall foliage. You can find photographs from that day here. It was a very nice dusting–not a lot of snow, … Read more
On December 13, I posted about the sighting of a bald eagle at Green-Wood. Well, like so many others, it looks like our bald eagle is very much enjoying Green-Wood’s grounds. It has been seen several times by several people, including strollers, bird watchers, and members of our grounds crew. Here’s Ryan Morrisey’s dramatic account … Read more
Ben Feldman, our volunteer extraordinaire, has been cataloguing our Historic Fund collections for years. Ben occasionally takes time off from cataloguing to blog, research, and write books. And, he gives talks also. If you would like to join Ben this Saturday at Green-Wood, to hear his tales of research (“Uncovering Long-Lost Stories: Digging Dirt At … Read more
Green-Wood’s president, Richard Moylan, has been collecting paintings by artists who are interred at Green-Wood on behalf of our Historic Fund for eight years now. For the 2008 New York Times article about this, “Green-Wood Cemetery Builds A Collection,” click here. Rich recently acquired two very interesting paintings. One is by Letitia Bonnet Hart (1867-1953), … Read more
We continue to collect on behalf of our Green-Wood Historic Fund–items pertaining to Green-Wood itself (historic photographs, maps, guides, etc.) and those that help us tell the story of our permanent residents. As an earlier post noted, Walter Dorwin Teague (1883-1960) was one of the giants of 20th century industrial design. His remains lie in … Read more