Fall Migration Walk

Join Bob Stymeist at 7:30AM on Thursday, September 13th for this walk to enjoy the passerine migration in full swing.  Preregistration required.

Panicle Hydrangea

 

Horticultural Highlight: Panicle Hydrangea, Hydrangea paniculata    

 

For many of us, September, with its return of school-days, has become a de facto end of summer.  One late-blooming plant, that always extends the lushness of summer flowers, well past Labor Day, is the Panicle Hydrangea, Hydrangea paniculata.  

The genus Hydrangea, within the family HYDRANGEACEAE, includes over 70 species of flowering plants, native to south, and eastern Asia, and North, and South America. Hydrangeas are divided into three... read more 

Japanese botanists count more than 5,600 indigenous species of flowering plants and ferns, many of these being endemic (found nowhere else).  Join Jim Gorman at 10AM on Sunday, September 9th for Japanese Jewels - a walking tour which will feature some of the connoisseurs' choices planted throughout the Cemetery.

There are numerous varieties of ornamental grasses throughout Mount Auburn. In addition to adding beauty, they help perpetuate a more sustainable landscape. Join Jim Gorman at 10AM on Sunday, September 23rd for Ornamental Grasses   and take home a few ideas for your own garden.

Eternally Green: Notable "Green" Residents of Mount Auburn    

In this installment of the Eternally Green series, we highlight some of the individuals interred at Mount Auburn who were early pioneers in the fight for environmental and conservation causes.  

     

 

 

Early Tours through the Garden of Graves: Mount Auburn's 19th-Century Guidebooks

  

Today sightseers to Mount Auburn might take a self-guided tour of the Cemetery by browsing through the Mount Auburn app on their hand-held device.  

In the 19th century, visitors could learn about the splendors of the Cemetery by leafing through small guidebooks, also easily held in one's hand.  

The volumes, which cost between 15 and 25 cents, ranged in size from 3 ¼ x 5 ½" to 5 by 7 ¾". Readers could buy either softcover pamphlets or ornately embossed hardcover editions.... read more 

 
____________________________________

Rock of Ages -  "Maker's Mark"

 

History Highlight: "Maker's Marks"  

     

Mount Auburn is known for many of its historically significant monuments, such as the Mary Baker Eddy Memorial and the Binney Monument - a national treasure.  These monuments were carved and designed by well known architects and sculptors so their origins aren't much of a mystery. 

But what about the tens of thousands of other monuments at Mount Auburn?  Who carved them and where did they come from?  For many monuments that information has been lost over time, but for others, tiny marks carved into them by their makers provide valuable information. 

These marks are known as maker's marks and served as a way for sculptors and monument dealers to sign their work- much like an artist signs a painting.  Alpheus Cary, a local monument carver from the 19th century, has works that can be found all over Mount Auburn, from the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial to the marble monument that marks his grave (Lot 485 Willow Avenue).  As you can see from these pictures, each sculptor or dealer had their own unique maker's mark.  See if you can discover a maker's mark the next time you're out on the grounds!

Thomas B. Thayer Monument

 

Person of the Month: Thomas B. Thayer (1812 - 1886) 

Born in Boston on September 10, 1812, Thomas B. Thayer was an influential Universalist. He began preaching Universalism in 1831 (the same year that Mount Auburn was consecrated) after a brief stint at Harvard.

While a minister at the First Universalist Society in Lowell, Massachusetts, he established church-based 'improvement circles' for young women working in the Lowell Mills. Born out of concern for girls living away from their families without educational or spiritual influence, the circles were an outlet for young women to express their concerns, experiences, and emotions through writing (published in the Lowell Offering and Star of Bethlehem, the latter of which Thayer was editor).

He later moved to the Shawmut Avenue Universalist Church, where he edited and contributed to the Universalist Quarterly and published The Theology of Universalism (1862). A central figure in the history of Universalism, Thayer also expanded the mission abroad by promoting the value of missionary work in Japan. He is buried at Lot #1339, Central Avenue.   

Beyond Our Gates: Events of Interest to the Community

~~~~~      

Events at the Griffin Museum of Digital Silver Imaging:

Photographs from the Roger Tory Peterson Collection

Reception on Wednesday, September 5th at 6PM

Mark Wilson - Gallery Talk & Live Owl Presentation

Wednesday, September 26th at 7PM     

~~~~~  

Longfellow's Beacon Hill: Writers, Reformers, and Radicals

Saturday, September 8th at 11AM and 1PM

This special walking tour focuses on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his circle, with a special emphasis on civil rights reform.  

Space is limited so RSVPs are required. Reservations may be made by emailing rob_velella@nps.gov.  Presented by Boston African American National Historic Site and Longfellow House - Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site.   

~~~~~ 

I Have Had My Share of Mishaps in Politics': Henry Cabot Lodge & the Presidential Election of 1912

Friday, September 14th at 2PM

Massachusetts Historical Society

The bitter split between the conservative and progressive wings of the Republican Party in 1912 threatened the 30-year friendship of Henry Cabot Lodge and Theodore Roosevelt. Stephen T. Riley Librarian Peter Drummey will explain how the two struggled to remain friends.