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News & Events, June 2009
Dear Friend,
The Friends of Mount Auburn is pleased to present the June 2009 edition of our electronic newsletter. We invite you to join our email list to receive this mailing on a monthly basis. If you haven't done so already, click the link above to verify your interest in receiving our newsletter. To ensure that you continue to receive emails from us, add
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 Spring Concert at Bigelow Chapel
Join us in Bigelow Chapel at 3:00 PM on Saturday, June 20th for a late spring concert featuring soprano Jean Danton and pianist Thomas Stumpf. Ms. Danton and Mr. Stumpf will present a program that celebrates some of Mount Auburn's most notable figures.
The concert will feature the works of poets buried at Mount Auburn whose prose has been turned into song. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Julia Ward Howe and Amy Lowell are among the poets to be highlighted during the program. Instrumental works by some of the composers now buried at the Cemetery will complement the vocal works. A reception will follow the hour-long program. Seating is limited. Preregistration is required. $10 members; $15 non-members.
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Horticultural Highlight
In the spring, Mount Auburn is alive with the colorful blooms of more than 200 dogwood trees. Grown as ornamental trees here in the U.S., dogwood trees like the Cornus kousa, also known as Kousa Dogwood or Japanese Flowering Dogwood, are native to China, Korea and Japan.
The striking "flowers" of the Kousa Dogwood are actually the pointed white bracts that appear below clusters of smaller, greenish-yellow inflorescences. Showy bracts that start out white and fade to pink attract many visitors to the Kousa Dogwood on the eastern end of Vesper Path at the Cemetery every spring.
The Kousa Dogwood tree retains interest throughout the summer and into autumn when it produces rasperry-like hanging fruit and reddish-purple leaves. All year long visitors may find delight in the mottled tree bark of the Kousa Dogwood which exfoliates, revealing a pattern of tannish yellow-to-brown and grayish-white lenticels.
Learn more about Mount Auburn's horticultural collections.
For those who appreciate the early morning or who are looking for a quick walk before work, check out Mount Auburn's Early-Riser's Horticultural Club. This free walking tour with Horticulture staff will highlight what's in bloom throughout the Cemetery - from early bulbs to magnificent flowering trees. Walk will begin promptly at 7:00 AM and last approximately one hour. No preregistration is required for this free walk. Friday, June 5th. ________________________________________________________________________ |
 Friends of Mount Auburn Spring Programs
Our Late-Spring 2009 Program and Event schedule is available online. View the complete list of events and register for them on our website today!
Discover Mount Auburn Cemetery - Join us on Saturday, June 6th at 2:00 PM for a 1.5-mile walking tour which will focus on history, monuments, and the lives of those buried here. Mount Auburn, designated a National Historic Landmark, is one of the country's most significant designed landscapes. Here the arts of horticulture, architecture and sculpture combine with the beauty of nature to create a place of comfort and inspiration. $5 members; $10 non-members.
Mount Auburn Book Club - Combine your passion for books with your love of Mount Auburn Cemetery by joining the Mount Auburn Book Club on Thursday, June 11th at 10:00 AM. Following one of the busiest months of the birding season at Mount Auburn, we will discuss Johnathan Rosen's The Life of the Skies: Birding at the End of Nature (2008). Rosen leads the reader into the world of birding through a combination of observations, poetry, and history. Please bring stories of your recent bird sightings as they relate to the reading! Meet at Story Chapel. FREE.
Preservation on the Grounds - Please join us on Thursday, June 18th at 2:00 PM for a tour and presentation with Mount Auburn's Chief of Conservation, David Gallagher and Preservation & Facilities Planner, Natalie Wampler. This special behind-the-scenes presentation will highlight our work and demonstrate different materials and techniques used to preserve Mount Auburn's structures. We look forward to sharing our methods of monument and building care with you! This event will be held outdoors - please wear proper clothing, footwear and plenty of sunscreen. Meet at the Entrance Gate. Limited enrollment. Preregistration required. $5 members; $10 non-members. Monument Inscription Workshops - Assist us in preserving important historical information by participating in an afternoon workshop on Sunday, June 21st at 2:00 PM. The inscriptions on Mount Auburn's 19th-century monuments are disappearing as marble wears away and brownstone disintegrates. Participants in the Monument Inscription Workshop will review and practice techniques for deciphering inscriptions and will then work within a confined area to record this invaluable information. This workshop will be held outdoors in the afternoon sun. Please wear proper clothing and footwear and plenty of sunscreen. Meet at the Entrance Gate. FREE. Beautiful, Timeless and Still Available - Join us on Sunday, June 28th at 2:00 PM for a virtual tour of Mount Auburn Cemetery that will begin in Story Chapel and then proceed by van to explore the late-spring beauty of this historic landscape. Experience how contemporary landscape design and architecture are shaping the burial spaces for the 21st-century. The driving tour will end at Bigelow Chapel for a brief tour of the Cemetery's oldest chapel. Limited enrollment. Preregistration required. FREE. ________________________________________________________________________________ |
Birds & Birding at Mount Auburn
The Baltimore Oriole
Text by Robert H. Stymeist
Photo by Sandy Selesky
The Baltimore Oriole, one of the most colorful songbirds in our area can be found at Mount Auburn Cemetery from late April through September.
A preference for open spaces with tall trees makes Mount Auburn the perfect destination for an Oriole and an ideal place for them to nest - as many as 12 pair have been noted to reside at the Cemetery during the breeding season.
The male Baltimore Oriole is flame orange and black - the colors of Lord Baltimore's coat-of-arms from where the name is derived. The female is similar to the male, but more subdued in color and it lacks the solid black head of the male.
As soon as the male orioles arrive they begin to sing continually - while setting up their territory and attracting the attention of female birds. In the first week of May, orioles can be heard throughout the Cemetery - their song is loud, clear and flute-like, making it hard to believe that they could be members of the blackbird family. If you listen closely each male oriole has a slightly different song - female orioles also sing, although not as frequently or with the complexity of the males.
Shortly after the female orioles arrive, nest building begins. The nest, built by the female, is a hanging pouch about six inches long that is suspended at the end of a branch. Woven of plant fibers, hair and sometimes yarn or ribbon, the nests are very sturdy and will often hold up through the winter, although a new nest is built each year.
Both the male and female assist in feeding the young which usually will leave the nest within 12 to 14 days after hatching. At this time, the male is nearly silent, singing very infrequently, perhaps to become less conspicuous to predators such as crows, grackles or Blue Jays.
In early May the two white flowering trees on Lime Avenue attract not only orioles but quite a few photographers vying for the perfect Baltimore Oriole photo. You can easily attract orioles to your own backyard. They especially like orange halves that can be placed on a platform feeder or nailed to a tree. Orioles can also be attracted to sugar water, and they are additionally very fond of grape jelly.
The Massachusetts Audubon Society sponsors the Oriole Project, which monitors reports of orioles from individuals all across Massachusetts. Last year 3374 orioles were reported from 710 participants and 245 active nests were confirmed in 266 towns in the state. You can participate at: http://www.massaudubon.org/oriole/ ____________________
Birds and Birding at Mount Auburn Cemetery: An Introductory Guide is regularly available for purchase at the Cemetery from 8:30 AM to 4 PM everyday (except holidays). The cost is $8.00. Copies are available by mail order by sending payment to the Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery, ATT: Bird Guide, 580 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. Please include the cost $8.00, plus $2.00 for mailing and handling (total $10) for each copy ordered.
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 Mount Auburn: June History Highlights
Musician and composer James Cutler Dunn Parker was born on June 2, 1828. Parker graduated from Harvard in 1848 with plans to become a lawyer, but soon abandoned the law to pursue his true life's passion: music. Parker traveled to Germany where he spent three years studying under some the world's leading musicians. After returning to Boston, he began to teach and perform music. He was appointed organist for both Trinity Church and the Handel and Haydn Society. He also served as an instructor of piano and harmony at the New England Conservatory of Music. Parker composed hymns, canatas, oratorios, and church music, with some of his compositions becoming part of the standard repertoire of the Handel and Haydn Society. Parker died in November of 1916 and is buried at Mount Auburn on Vinca Path.
Musician and composer Julius Eichberg was born in Germany on June 13, 1824. At the age of seven, Eichberg was assured by Mendelssohn that he would become a great violinist. Living up to this prediction, Eichberg studied at the Brussels Conservatory where he took first-prizes for violin-playing and composition. After eleven years as professor at the Conservatory of Geneva, he emigrated to America and settled in Boston. In Boston, Eichberg founded the Boston Conservatory of Music (1867) and the Eichberg Violin School. He also supervised music in the public schools and composed many pieces for voice, piano and violin. Eichberg died in January of 1893 and is buried at Mount Auburn on Linden Path.
Physist Wallace Clement Ware Sabine was born on June 13,1868 in Richwood, Ohio. When the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard, where Sabine was a professor of physics, opened in 1895 it was discovered that the museum's auditorium suffered from bad acoustics. To remedy the auditorium's acoustical problems, Sabine began studying the science of acoustics and discovered the causes of excessive reverberation. Sabine's discovery of the principles of reverberation were first applied at Boston's Symphony Hall, which opened its doors in 1900 as an acoustical success and is still considered one of the world's best concert halls. Sabine, who became known as the father of architectural acoustics, died in January of 1919. He is inurned in the Bigelow Chapel Columbarium at Mount Auburn.
June is the perfect time to celebrate James Cutler Dunn Parker, Julius Eichberg, Wallace Clement Ware Sabine, and other musical figures now buried at Mount Auburn. Take our self-guided tour, "The Musicians of Mount Auburn," available for $2 at the Visitors Center. Or, join us on June 20th at Bigelow Chapel for our annual Spring Concert.
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 Partners in Preservation
Mount Auburn's participation in the Partners In Preservation initiative made for a very busy spring at the Cemetery. Between April 14 and May 17, we spoke with thousands of visitors, explaining our on-going Preservation efforts and our need for funding to ensure Mount Auburn's preservation in the future. We held several wonderful programs, created a fantastic exhibit in the Gatehouse, and reached out over the internet with videos on YouTube and photos on Flickr, all to educate the public about the significance of our Gatehouse.
Thank you for your enthusiasm and support during this exciting opportunity. Your votes and the wonderful stories you shared on the Partners In Preservation website have definitely made the case that Mount Auburn matters. And, with nearly 2.5 million page views on the Partners In Preservation website during the voting period, even more people now know how much Mount Auburn matters, too.
The votes have all been counted and the Paragon Carousel in Hull has won the Partners In Preservation popular vote. Congratulations to the Carousel, which is guaranteed to receive $100,000 in preservation funding. But, it's not over yet...
Partners In Preservation will award $1 million in preservation funding throughout Greater Boston, which means that there is still $900,000 in funding remaining. An advisory panel, comprised of experts in the field of preservation, civic leaders, and representatives from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express, will determine how the remaining funding will be awarded. The complete list of grant recipients will be announced on June 16th on the Partners In Preservation website.
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Think green. Do not print this email and you will help to conserve valuable resources. Thank you!
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You can now join or renew your membership in the Friends of Mount Auburn quickly, securely and easily online! The Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery was established in 1986 as a non-profit educational trust to promote the appreciation and preservation of Mount Auburn. Join the Friends of Mount Auburn. Learn about volunteer opportunities at Mount Auburn.
Mount Auburn Cemetery is still a unique choice for burial and commemoration. It offers a wide variety of innovative interment and memorialization options for all. Learn about Mount Auburn's many burial and memorialization options. |
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Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery
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email: friends@mountauburn.org
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