Lectures

Circles of Sepulcher: The Landscape of Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx

New York, NY

NYC Parks, Cypress Hills Cemetery, The New York Chapter of the Association for Gravestone Studies and The Evergreens Cemetery Preservation Foundation will present a series of three lectures in 2014 as part of the Uncommon Ground Series: Urban Cemeteries as Historic Landscapes Part II: Design, Topography/Geology and Stewardship. The subject of urban cemeteries, both private and public, will be explored with a view toward greater  understanding, appreciation and stewardship of these evocative landscapes.

On Tuesday, February 11, 2014 at 6:00 pm Charles D. Warren will speak on Circles of Sepulcher: The Landscape of Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. When Woodlawn Cemetery was first designed in 1864, its landscape followed the pattern of picturesque “rural”cemeteries, but the influence of the “lawn-plan” and Civil War memorials altered its design. The cemetery’s landscapeevolved to include large lots, many in a distinctive circular form, and some with individual designs by the era’s landscape masters: the Olmsteds, Beatrix Farrand, Ferruccio Vitale, Ellen Shipman, and others. The lecture will explore the development of Woodlawn’s landscape from farm fields into one of the most complex and richly ornamented cemetery landscapes in the United States. Learn more here.

Additional lectures in the series will take place on Tuesday, March 11 and Thursday, April 3.