Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science was one. We walked the central portion of the Cemetery where we learned the histories of some famous “residents” and their burial sites. Mount Auburn designers Henry Dearborn, Jacob Bigelow, and Alexander Wadsworth drew inspiration from the famous Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.Īt our first outdoor class, we gathered in front of the Visitor Center in fabulous weather to chat in-person and then headed off, maps in our hands and cameras over our shoulders, as Helen led us on a 90-minute tour. We learned about the development and planning of the Cemetery and its role as a model for future landscape garden cemeteries. It has over 175 acres and is classified as an arboretum and bird migration spot, as well as a National Historic Landmark. Dedicated in 1831, it was the first garden cemetery in the United States. She explained that Mount Auburn was more than just a cemetery. Helen allowed all 15 of us to introduce ourselves and provided a background history of Mount Auburn Cemetery. Our class would Zoom together for two sessions and walk the Cemetery’s hills and dales the other three. This would mean that I could shut off my computer, remove myself from the couch and head off to the great outdoors, but only if I scored a spot in the class lottery! As the Gods of Luck would have it, I won a spot and enrolled in Helen Abrams’ Mount Auburn Cemetery in the Spring, a course which Helen was well-qualified to lead, since she has been a docent there for over 14 years. This cemetery is a community institution which deserves commendation, for it renders far more than twenty-four hour service.When I heard BOLLI was offering several outdoor classes this spring, I was ecstatic. The contemplation of these impressive crypts has been known to cause many young couples to linger till dusk and later. The Cabots have an aperture in the roof of their tomb through which they may commune with God. Here, beside one of the five artificial ponds, one may inspect the mausoleums of prominent Bostonians. From its summit one gets a clearer view of the slaughter house.ĭescending from these heights of artistic imagination, the visitor may choose Silvan, Cowslip or Primrose Path, which, flanked by lovely bushes and protruding feet, wind down to the most respectable part of the cemetery. From his vantage point on Chapel Hill, the visitor may catch sight of a giant chess castle. There are no foreign elements, such as beauty, in this Sphinx. The sculptor succeeded admirably in getting rid of the disturbing mystery that distinguishes its Egyptian counterpart. Fronting the chapel is one of the most noticeable features of the cemetery-the Sphinx. But the cemetery corporation had no trouble in securing an exact copy. The original chapel began to decompose shortly after it was built, being unfit to bear exposure to the air of this variable climate. The rest of the dust was allowed to mingle.īut few visitors of the cemetery today care to linger over the tombs or even the magnificent Gothic, Matthewesque chapel. From the first, Harvard dead, including President Kirkland, were given a special hill to themselves. And in these years many distinguished persons were buried here, including Longfellow, Louis Agassiz, William Ellery Channing, Charles Summer and Mary Baker Eddy. During the 1880's and '90's Mount Auburn Cemetery was looked upon by Bostonians as the most refined resting place in the vicinity. By taking any one of the 30 miles of roads and footpaths, the visitor will discover interesting spots and bushes. In 1832 at the request of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society the attractive' bushes were planted. Obelisks, Egyptian pyramids, mausoleums, Greek temples began to be collected on these grounds in 1831.
In its idyllic glens the living also find repose and even young people find it a suitable place to visit both day and night. To what better place could one go to relieve a swelling heart?" Mount Auburn cemetery comprises 110 acres of varying hills and dales, and also many bushes. In the words of Dearborn's Visitor's Guide to Mount Auburn Cemetery, 1843, "One can find no better spot for the rambles of curiosity, health, or pleasure. A popular local cemetery is situated on Mount Auburn Street.
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