Circle Members Enjoy Exclusive Woodlawn Cemetery Tour
Against the backdrop of brilliant fall colors, Professional Circle members enjoyed the special opportunity recently to tour Woodlawn Cemetery — one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world. Established in 1863, the cemetery is 400 acres of rolling lawns, spectacular trees and impressive memorials designed by many of the nation’s most accomplished artists and architects.
Susan Olsen, director of historical services at the cemetery, and Friends of the Woodlawn Cemetery Executive Director Brian Sahd led Circle members on a tour of stunning architecture, including the interiors of some magnificent mausoleums.
Majestic mausoleums and memorials acted in part as a spotlight on the nation’s history with Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Celia Cruz and Herman Melville topping the list as most popular grave sites, according to Olsen.
Woodlawn’s “Hall of Fame” also includes Irving Berlin, Augustas Juilliard, F.W. Woolworth, Roland H. Macy, Jay Gould, Lionel Hampton, Fiorello LaGuardia, Robert Moses, Nellie Bly, Joseph Pulitzer and Illinois Jacquet, among many others.
McKim Mead & White, John Russell Pope, James Gamble Rogers, Cass Gilbert, Carrère and Hastings, Sir Edwin Lutyens, Beatrix Jones Farrand, and John LaFarge are among the many notable designers that contributed to Woodlawn memorials.
The criminal mingles with the renowned at Woodlawn. One of the first females executed in New York in the electric chair for the murder of her husband, Ruth Brown Snyder’s grave is popular during the Halloween season, Olsen said.
The cemetery, located on Webster Avenue and East 233rd Street in the Bronx, was founded when a group of New Yorkers decided to establish a burial ground easily accessed from Manhattan. Located along the train line from Grand Central Station, Woodlawn was advertised as being located “only thirty minutes from Manhattan”, making it convenient for families to visit. In 1866 the New York Times wrote that Woodlawn was “sufficiently remote from the island of Manhattan to be beyond the reach of its noise, and the disturbance from the extension of the city.”
“Transit plus cultural taste, plus change in design style, plus lots of money, equals Woodlawn Cemetery.” Olsen said.
But it wasn’t until 1870 when the celebrity burial of Admiral David Glasgow Farragut — known for his famous Civil War battle cry “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” — would make national news and turn Woodlawn into the popular resting place it remains today.
Stunning Tiffany stained-glass windows within several mausoleums offer a look into four decades of the famous design company’s style. The windows are a study collection of Tiffany art.
Five years after the founding of The Woodlawn Cemetery, Trustees changed the design of the cemetery, adopting the “Landscape-Lawn Plan.” The Landscape-Lawn Plan promoted open spaces, prohibited fencing around lots and encouraged families to have a centerpiece memorial surrounded by matching footstones. Plantings were to be carefully designed to complement the clean appearance of the cemetery. This new design concept gave the cemetery a grand look while making it easier for the workers to maintain the grounds, according to the Woodlawn Web site.
“Everything is a science.” Olsen said, referring to the meticulous care Woodlawn staff takes in maintaining the vast space, which, with five of New York’s designated “Great Trees,” could double as an arboretum.
The cemetery is taking steps to ensure older architecture and landscapes survive the times by applying for National Historic Landmark status, which signifies the most important landmarks in the country.
“We are rewriting rules and regulations to be more preservation sensitive,” Olsen said. “There is a lot for us to do in restoring our historic landscape.”
The Conservancy plans to hold another exclusive tour of Woodlawn Cemetery this spring as well as a tour of the even-older Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn.
The next Professional Circle Tour will provide an insider’s look into the glamorous new interior of the Mark Hotel on Nov. 18. Click here to learn more or contact Amy Sullivan at .
