Cemeteries get a lot of attention as settings for ghost stories and scary movies, but they weren’t always regarded as eerie or haunted places. In the mid-nineteenth century, picturesque cemeteries provided a model for our first public parks, places where families gathered to picnic and enjoy nature. The “rural cemetery” movement started in 1831 with Mount Auburn Cemetery near Boston, Massachusetts, and inspired several Indiana examples, including Crown Hill in Indianapolis.
At a talk on March 30, Dave Barnett, retired executive director of Mount Auburn Cemetery near Boston, Massachusetts, describes how the cemetery’s staff and trustees prioritize preserving and enhancing the historic landscape at the National Historic Landmark while offering diverse new interment and commemoration options. The cemetery is an accredited arboretum offering a horticultural diversity of collections, wildlife habitat, and ecologically friendly landscape and maintenance practices.
Co-sponsored by Crown Hill Heritage Foundation and the Cornelius O’Brien Lecture Series Concerning Historic Preservation.
Face coverings over the mouth and nose may be encouraged, but not required while at Indiana Landmarks Center. Directives are subject to change in accordance with local and national health guidelines and will be communicated with attendees before the event.
Tickets are free with RSVP. Doors open at Indiana Landmarks Center at 5:30 p.m., with talk beginning at 6 p.m. Join us in person or watch online via Zoom.
Make your reservation online by visiting ruralcemeterytalk22.eventbrite.com, or by calling 317-639-4534.