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News & Events, September 2010
Dear Friend,
The Friends of Mount Auburn is pleased to present the September 2010 edition of our electronic
newsletter. We invite you to join our email list to receive this mailing on a monthly basis. To
address book today.
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 Friends of Mount Auburn September Programs
Visit Mount Auburn this month to learn more about the history, horticulture, art, architecture, and wildlife of the Cemetery!
Here are just a few highlights from our September program schedule:
Visit the Mount Auburn Cemetery website for our full list of programs and register online today!
You can now register for multiple programs in one transaction. Click on a month, select the events you plan to attend from the list, enter the number of spaces we should reserve for you at each program, and then proceed to checkout. Register online today.
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 Preparing for End of Life Issues
Join us on Tuesday, September 21st at 5:30 PM for
a free panel discussion moderated by attorneys Rosemary Wilson and Laurel Millette on the topic of Preparing for End of Life Issues. Most of us plan and research important aspects of our lives, with the sizeable exception of end of life care for ourselves or our family members. Join us in Story Chapel for a practical seminar on easy ways to address many overlooked areas, namely, preparation of basic legal documents, increasing personal support through personal caregivers, nursing homes, hospice, and planning for immediate post-death issues such as funeral and burial.
Ms. Wilson and Ms. Millette will be joined by experts from the geriatric care and funeral businesses to round out this panel discussion.
Rosemary Wilson is an attorney, Sullivan & Worcester, LLP;
Laurel Millette is an attorney, Millette Law LLC, Lexington, MA.
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 Horticultural Highlight: By Jim Gorman, Mount Auburn Cemetery Docent
"...but if a plant has beautiful leaves it is, I think, the best reason for growing it. If it has good flowers as well, that makes two good reasons.
-Beth Chatto
Heptacodium miconioides, seven-son flower is a 15-20 foot-tall, deciduous, small tree or large shrub which, indeed, has attractive leaves and good flowers. The timing of flowering in late August and September provides nectar for butterflies and bees long after most other ornamental trees and shrubs are past blooming.
This lesser known plant is a member of the Caprifoliaceae or honeysuckle family and is native to China. It was first collected for Western science in 1907 as herbarium [cut and pressed dry] specimens by the prolific plant explorer Ernest Henry Wilson (1876-1930) on his third of four remarkable Chinese expeditions. Viable seed was not collected at that time and it was only after a 1980 re-introduction and subsequent nursery production, that this plant finally became available in the mid-1980's. Its genus was named by renowned taxonomist, Alfred Rehder (1863-1949), using the Greek hepta for seven and codium for poppyhead as the small single flowers occur in a whorl of six surrounding a central seventh blossom. These whorls of seven tiny, cream-white flowers are deliciously fragrant and abundantly produced in clusters when planted in full sun settings, but will nonetheless sweeten the air, in fewer numbers, when grown in the shade.
The leaves are 3 to 6-inches long and 2-inches wide, have an entire margin [non-toothed edge], with rounded bases and pointed tips. The handsome, dark-green leaves have three distinct parallel veins, occur opposite each other, are pest and problem free, and may cling to the stems into November without offering a colorful foliage display.
There is an outstanding autumn display, though, which is uniquely provided by the sepals of the flowers. Sepals on many flowers are visually inconspicuous. Foliage-like elements outside of the petals that sometimes persist as a fruit matures (think of the five tiny sepals on the bottom of an apple). Heptacodium sepals surrounding its flowers also begin as tiny and green. As the small fruits develop these sepals persist, elongate, and change color, green to pink to burgundy mimicking a second bloom of a different color and more spectacular then the flowers.
Additionally, the light tan-colored bark exfoliates in small paperlike strips producing a striking effect with heightened ornamental value in the winter landscape. Thus Heptacodium is truly a multiple-season interest plant. This has been affirmed by it being a winner of the Cary Award, an award created to recognize underutilized woody plants for New England that exhibit superior landscape appeal in two or more seasons, are pest resistant, and available for use.
While the 1907 herbarium specimens provided great scientific value they were incomplete for full visual or fragrant characteristics. When Mount Auburn planted our first Heptacodium in 1988 we were continuing our long tradition of using horticulture as both art and science. This began with our 1831 founding as a partnership with the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and continues today with exciting plans to build a new Horticulture Center to further this legacy. On your next visit to Mount Auburn, while enjoying our whole living collection of plants with timeless appeal, look for seven-son flower growing on Lime Avenue, Willow Avenue, Spellman Avenue, and Raven Path.
... "Big Trees at Mount Auburn" and "Unusual Trees of Mount Auburn" maps are available for
purchase at the Mount Auburn Entrance Gate and in the Visitors Center.
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 Wildlife at Mount Auburn Cemetery
Fall Warblers
By Robert H. Stymeist
Roger Tory Peterson was the first to coin the phrase" Confusing Fall Warblers" in his Field Guide To the Birds first published in 1934 and devoted separate pages depicting those birds and pointing with arrows the significant points to look for during the fall migration.
John Dunn in his Field Guide to Warblers of North America (Peterson Field Guide Series-1997) states: "Despite the fearsome concept of "confusing fall warblers" the identification is generally straightforward given adequate views". Before fall migration, many species of warblers lose their bright and distinctive spring plumage and molt into duller or drab colors for the winter months.
So how does the new birder identify warblers in the fall? First remember that there are basic features such as wing bars that help to identify the warbler in any plumage, then there is habitat preference, the Common Yellowthroat likes marsh and other wet habitats; the Wilson's and Canada warblers tend to be found low in thick shrubbery and many others prefer the tops of trees- exactly like they do in the spring. Watch for distinctive behavior: the American Redstart always fans its tail, the Palm and Prairie warblers raise their tails. Warblers rarely sing in the fall so you need to familiarize the call notes or chips they make, this is a bit more difficult but it easy to start with the Yellow-rump's fairly distinctive loud "check" call.
Here at Mount Auburn you won't see the multitude of birders that "flock" to the Cemetery each spring. It is quite frustrating to see birds at this time of the year, remember they don't sing, rarely make any noise, and are hard to detect in fully leafed out trees. Birders tend to look for fall migrants at coastal locations where trees are shorter and have been known as costal traps, as birds tend to follow the coast line in fall. The good thing is that fall migration is more leisurely, starting as early as July and continuing right up to the first days of December.
In the fall, birders at Mount Auburn should concentrate around the ponds, I've had the best results at Auburn Lake, lots of low shrubs, and easy access to get a drink- essential for the migrating warblers. Though most warblers are strictly insect eaters, some - especially the Yellow -rumped - will also eat seeds, and the black-eyed susans and cone flowers at Auburn Lake are ideal for them in late summer, as well as the Sweet Bay Magnolia which also attracts both warblers and other birds to its flowers. During the fall migration the Mount Auburn birder has the opportunity to find a few species that are rarely encountered in the spring. The Connecticut Warbler is one of the most sought after species by birders in the fall, though not the most ideal location, look for it in the Cemetery around the ponds or up by the wildflower meadow at the Tower. The other bird that has appeared more often in the fall is the Yellow-breasted Chat- again look for it in similar locations. One rare fall warbler visitor to Mount Auburn was a Black-throated Gray Warbler which was present from September 27 through October 2, 2000, and brought back with it many of the spring birders. _____________________________________________________________________________________ |
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 September History Highlight:
Mount Auburn Cemetery Consecration
Mount Auburn Cemetery was formally dedicated on September 24, 1831. More than 2,000 people journeyed out from Boston on foot and by carriage to meet in a deep dell, a natural amphitheater, at the cemetery for the consecration ceremony. Joseph Story, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, spoke at the ceremony. Below is an excerpt from, An address delivered on the dedication of the cemetery at Mount Auburn. "A rural Cemetery seems to combine in itself all the advantages, which can be proposed to gratify human feelings, or tranquilize human fears...And what spot can be more appropriate than this, for such a purpose?
There are around us all the varied features of beauty and grandeur-the forest-crowned height;...the grassy glade; and the silent grove. Here are the lofty oak, the beech,...the rustling pine, and the drooping willow; the tree, that sheds its pale leaves with every autumn, a fit emblem of our own transitory bloom... A solemn calm, as if we were in the bosom of a wilderness, broken only by the breeze as it murmurs through the tops of the forest, or by the notes of the warbler pouring forth his matin or his evening song.
We stand, as it were, upon the borders of two worlds; and we may gather lessons of profound wisdom by contrasting the one with the other, or indulge in the dreams of hope and ambition, or solace our hearts by melancholy meditations...the repositories of the dead bring home thoughts full of admonition, of instruction, and, slowly but surely, of consolation also. . . . They instruct us in the true value of life, and in its noble purposes, its duties, and its destination. They spread around us, in the reminiscences of the past, sources of pleasing, though melancholy reflection."
- Joseph Story
Consecration Address
September 24, 1831
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 Recently Completed Monument Conservation: Beauty Restored
Thanks to a wonderful connection and private funding, we were able to restore the beloved Rich Monument on Garden Avenue. The monument's marble statue depicting a kneeling woman looking to heaven has captured many hearts over the years.
Dating to 1864, the Rich monument is one of Mount Auburn's more significant monuments. It is a copy of a famous statue titled "Trust in God"(1833 marble, height 93 cm.) by Lorenzo Bartolini (1777-1850 Italian). The original statue is in the collection of the Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan, Italy.
Seth Rich, Jr. was a watch and diamond broker with offices at Brattle Square in Boston. He purchased this lot in May of 1864 in order to bury his daughter Olive L. Rich who died early, aged 32 years. The monument marks the center of a traditional 300 square foot family lot.
The Rich monument has weathered over the years and the marble surfaces had become "sugary." The stone was dirty with biological growth such as lichen and algae growing on the surface. Chief of Conservation David Gallagher and Curator of Historical Collections Meg L. Winslow met with the consulting Conservator Barbara Mangum and decided on the following treatment:
The monument was cleaned, cracks were filled and conservation chemicals were applied to help with long term stability of the marble. Before cleaning, loose materials were consolidated with conservation chemicals. Then the stone was washed with filtered water and a solution to inhibit biological growth. Cracks, small losses in the sculpture, and joints between the marble sculpture and the base were filled with mortar. Small areas of missing elements, such as the thumb of the proper right hand, the area of the proper left ear, sections of the lip and nose were recreated.
View photos of the monument's conditions before, during and after the conservation. Now this graceful statue, washed and restored, will continue to capture our hearts and imagination.
Who was the young Olive Rich we wonder? Did she look anything like her beautiful monument?
For further information about this recent project, or monument conservation at Mount Auburn, please contact Curator of Historical Collections Meg L. Winslow at: mwinslow@mountauburn.org
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 Person of the Month: Anne Whitney
This month we celebrate the life of sculptor and poet, Anne Whitney (9/2/1821 - 1/23/1915). Born in Watertown, Massachusetts, Anne was the youngest of seven children of Nathaniel Ruggles and Sally Stone Whitney. Raised in a family of Unitarians with progressive political beliefs, Anne was educated by tutors and displayed an early talent for writing poetry.
As a young woman Anne was influenced by noted abolitionists and women's rights advocates such as William Lloyd Garrison, Lucy Stone, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emily Blackwell, and Charles Sumner (Lot #2447 Arethusa Path, Mount Auburn). In 1847 she began contributing poetry to magazines such as Harper's and the Atlantic Monthly.
In 1855 Anne, took up sculpting in addition to writing poetry and in 1862 she opened her own studio in Boston next door to William Rimmer, a sculptor and doctor who instructed her in anatomy. Around this time, she also began modeling busts of friends and relatives, but soon turned to public figures - like Samuel Adams, Viking explorer Leif Ericson, Senator Charles Sumner and friend and abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison - many of whom embodied her social and political ideas.
Although she received public commissions for the statues of Samuel Adams and Leif Ericson, she was denied first-place in an anonymous competition for a statue of Sumner after it was discovered that she was a woman (she actually won the competition initially, but the award ultimately went to Thomas Ball, the second-place winner).
Whitney's model of Charles Sumner was eventually cast in bronze and erected in Harvard Square in 1902 and is pictured above.
In her later years, Whitney shared a house with her sister Sarah and her friend Adeline Manning in Boston. Whitney and Manning continued to advocate for women's rights and remained committed to the fight against social injustice until their deaths.
Anne Whitney died at age 93 and is buried with Adeline in the Manning family lot on Thistle Path at Mount Auburn Cemetery.
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Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery
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