White Bronze Memorials

Every once in a while in my cemetery travels I’ll encounter a zinc monument amidst all the stone ones. You may have walked right past one yourself and taken it for granite (small joke there), but this light bluish gray material is actually metal. Perhaps you’ve knocked on one and noted its clanking hollowness. Sometimes called white bronze (to make them sound fancy), these memorials have a rather interesting history.

You may only find a couple of them in any given cemetery, interspersed with the hundreds of marble, granite, and slate grave markers. Their relative scarcity is due to the fact that they were only manufactured (in the U.S.) for about forty years (between 1870 and 1912). Given that the U.S. has about 330 years worth of cemeteries, forty years is not a long time. Interestingly, the Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester N.Y. actually mapped out the locations of the zinc monuments in that cemetery!

Where did zinc monuments come from, you may ask? And why were they around for only forty years? Well, catalogs, and because forty years is the period of time the Monumental Bronze Company of Bridgeport Connecticut, was in the business of making them. That could really be the end of this blog, but you know me better than that! I can just go on and on ….

Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA

(According to Samuel Orcutt in his History of Monumental Bronze) M.A. Richardson and C.J. Willard perfected the method of casting molten zinc in 1873, with the intent of using the material as funerary monuments. They ran out of money, however, and sold the process before they could bring their dream to fruition. The idea was to offer customers a cheap, yet elegant, alternative to stone. This was the heyday of Victorian cemeteries in the U.S. and all God’s children wanted fabulously ornate monuments for their family plots. Unfortunately for the eventual manufacturers, the Monumental Bronze Company (which made all of the monuments), the idea never quite caught on.

 What’s Wrong with Zinc?

Zinc Jesus on Iron Cross

Compared to marble or granite sculpture, zinc does look rather cheesy (which may have been part of the reason "white bronze" monuments were banned from some cemeteries). However, the main concern of the buying public was that zinc wouldn’t last as long as stone! Perhaps there were doubts about the manufacturer’s insistence that the metal would not rust. A hundred and forty years later, the company’s claims of longevity have certainly been borne out. These monuments seem to have weathered as well as any carved stone memorial.

“A Thing of the Past”

The monuments were actually cast, which means a mold was used (standard design or customized with names and dates created by an artist at Monumental Bronze), into which was poured molten zinc. In the case of a small flush-to-the-ground marker like the one you see at right (typically costing around six dollars), this was a one-step process.

Lawrenceville Cemetery, New Jersey

For more elaborate structures, several pieces were made, then either zinc-welded or bolted together. This way, monuments could be as large as twenty feet high. Flat packaging the sides allowed the manufacturer to easily ship the monuments to any of its subsidiaries across the U.S. Decorative plates (of mourning symbolism) could be later replaced with ones bearing the name of a future deceased family member. The design was actually much more flexible than stone carving!

Charlotte Cemetery, Rochester, NY (Dorothy Loney)

As you can see from the holes in this memorial at right, such a design unfortunately invites vandalism as well. It also brings to mind the rumor that bootleggers used these zinc memorials to hide their bottles during prohibition!

 City Cemetery, San Antonio, TX

Zinc-welding, a process perfected by Richardson and Willard, is part of the reason such three-dimensional castings as the one at the beginning of this article (in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA) have endured the ravages of time, tree branches, and ground settlement even better than stone. Part of the reason might be their weight. Some friends of mine tried to lift a fallen one to an upright position recently and were surprised at how heavy it was. Even though these monuments are hollow, zinc is actually heavier than iron! Still, some do suffer irreparable damage (its a conservator's nightmare to fix one of these), as you can see in this photo of the angel with its broken wings. 

Fountian Cemetery, Forstria, OH (Jeff Ronald)

Richardson and Willard's patented zinc-welding process has held up very well. According to Barbara Rotundo, it involved heating molten zinc much higher than its melting point and pouring it into the joint between the cast pieces. This melted the surface of the quarter-inch thick pieces and fused them more solidly than soldering would have done. This way, very large monuments could be made from smaller pieces, allowing the fine detail you see in this portrait at left. I like the caption under the relief, "FROM A PHOTO TAKEN IN 1865." Here's where my misguided sense of humor kicks in - I imagine that when the family of the deceased sent the order in to the Monumental Bronze Company, they included a photo for the artist to create a likeness for the memorial. The artist's apprentice misunderstood the instructions and cast this phrase instead of the man's name! Everything about these monuments was customizable - even if you couldn't afford a portrait, you could choose specific text and decorative interchangeable panels. Another interesting thing to notice about this particular monument is the cracking at its base. This is fairly common with larger monuments as their bases begin to buckle and crack under the enormous weight.

Evergreen Cemetery, Camden, NJ

Since zinc is actually a shiny, gleaming metal, like chrome, I wondered if the original zinc monuments were sold like this, with the chalky, dull coating appearing some months after being installed on a grave. “Left exposed to the elements the monuments rapidly form a tough and very durable skin of zinc carbonate that protects the underlying metal. The zinc carbonate is what gives the monuments their characteristic bluish gray color (ref.).” Although I would think a shiny futuristic monument would be rather cool, this, most assuredly, was at odds with Victorian sensibilities. Since the purpose of zinc monuments was to simply be an alternative to stone, it apparently was more aesthetically pleasing for them to resemble stone. Hence, the dull coating was actually created after the monument was assembled; it was delivered to its final resting place looking like it does today. 

Despite a nationwide distribution network (many companies across the U.S. were contracted to assemble the monuments, but the parts were actually poured and molded in Bridgeport), interest in the monuments died off after WWI. Part of the reason was a poor sales organization, which consisted only of catalog sales by part-time door-to-door salesmen. While the Monumental Bronze Company had a lovely catalog (view it  here as a pdf on the Association for Gravestone Studies' website), customers were expected to buy the monument sight unseen. The zinc monuments were not sold by the stone carving businesses where people would normally purchase their memorials. And not insignificantly, the U.S. government took over the Bridgeport plant for the manufacturing of munitions during the war (1914) - zinc is a key ingredient of brass (70% copper, 30% zinc), from which shell casings are made. The price of zinc tripled, probably contributing to zinc’s downfall as an economical alternative to memorial stonework.

Technology Transfer

During the war, interest in the zinc monuments died off and the company retooled to make other products. Zinc, you may not realize, plays a vital role in the process of galvanizing steel, which makes the steel rust-resistant. Though the Monumental Bronze Company couldn't predict its own demise, its processes would brighten everyone's future decades later. 

Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA

While the zinc monument industry eventually disappeared, the company's zinc molding and welding processes contributed greatly to future technological advance. The anti-corrosive properties of zinc were put to use in everything from galvanized steel ductwork for your home heating system to the galvanized steel used in automobile bodies. When a certain technology is made available to others so that it may be used in more diverse ways for the common good, its called technology transfer. Did you know that molded plastic ski boots and cordless electric drills had their origins in the U.S. Space Program (NASA)?

References
Monumental Bronze Company
If you ever want to learn more about gravestones, a likely place is Association for Gravestone Studies
Monumental Bronze Company Catalog
Cemetery Monuments – White Bronze – Zinc
Cemetery Monuments Made of Zinc, Carol A. Grissom, Senior Objects Conservator, MCI (Smithsonian Museum)
Zinc Sculpture in America

Boot Hill Cemetery

Even if you HAD ever heard of Elkton, Maryland, it was probably for just one thing – the no-fault divorce. While Las Vegas gets all the publicity for such things, in little Elkton, you can get a non-resident divorce, whether or not both spouses agree! If you don’t find yourself in Elkon for some very specific reason, it’s very likely that you’re very simply, lost! I’m referring to an area about ninety miles northeast of Washington D.C., about where the Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland cultures collide. I like to think of this vicinity as an extension of the Brandywine area, quite dark and spooky, with all the houses looking like they were painted by Andrew Wyeth.

So I was in Elkon last week, not for a divorce, but to do some cemetery photography. Elkton has a small town center, which radiates out into serious farmland. I’m talking cows here. Of all the cemeteries I mapped out to visit, I had hoped the one named “Boot Hill Cemetery” would be most interesting. While it shares its name of course with the much more famous Boot Hill in Tombstone, Arizona, in its own way, it did not disappoint.
 

Boot Hill Cemetery is not the easiest thing to find. Of course, printed-out scraps of paper from Google Maps lying all over the seat of my car may not have been the best plan (my wife keeps insisting on a GPS). Feeling that I must be within spitting distance of the cemetery, I pulled up to a group of good ol’ boys to ask directions (I’m not above that, especially at dusk). They pointed and said, “Right up the hill.” Huh, so Boot Hill Cemetery is actually on a hill. I turned around in the driveway across the street (with the “Parking for Dale Earnhardt Fans Only” sign nailed above the garage) and headed up yonder.

Boot Hill is a rural churchyard cemetery - the small wooden church you see at top of this article (and at the top of the hill) was established in 1858, which appears to be around the date of the oldest graves here. On the church side of the road, the cemetery is rather new  – with the oldest graves from the early 1900s. There was a couple standing on the grounds when I pulled my car in, but they left quickly. I saw no other people during my visit. Though I did find this interesting epitaph here, the much more interesting area for me was the opposite side of the road. There, the older graves ranged from the 1850’s to maybe 1945 − a beautiful little place. Like so many other small rural graveyards I found in the area, the gates do not lock. This, fellow cemetery travelers, is always a pleasant find. 

Right at the entrance, I was surprised to find three zinc (or white bronze) memorials in a row! My personal best, as a tombstone hunter. Once in a while you'll find one or two of these in an entire cemetery, but three together was an unusual find in this geographic area. (Read more about White Bronze Memorials.)

At the base of the zinc monument in the foreground was the imprint you see below. The Monumental Bronze Company of Bridgeport CT had an interesting history, which you can read about in my blog link just mentioned. They created all the zinc memorials you see throughout the United States! Yep, they all came from one place. Which is why they all basically look the same. While you could choose from among a variety of funerary symbolism and have custom name imprints made, the structures are basically the same. Which is different from stone carvings you find in cemeteries.

In one of the photos above, you see the words "W. McDevitt, Elkton," engraved in the lower corner of a white marble headstone. Unlike white bronze memorials which were shipped all over the country (between 1870 and 1912), stone carvings are rather unique to the vicinity of the graveyard itself. This is pretty much the case all over. Stone is just way too heavy and fragile to ship. It also explains the great variations in stone type, sculpting and engraving styles, headstone shapes and sizes, even fonts, from one geographic region to another. You tend to see the same style headstones in cemeteries in the same geographic region. Travel fifty miles in either direction, and you're bound to start seeing differences!

Dynasty plot, with headstones engraved on walls

I roamed Boot Hill Cemetery for nearly an hour, making photographs, taking in the ambiance. Quiet. Peaceful. Like the church mice that live in the old building across the street. Lichens grew on the old marble headstones, and on the fifty-year-old seashells bordering some of the burial plots. Why do so many people put seashells on the graves of their loved ones?

Down near the wood line, there was a big old busted wooden pumpkin crate filled with old plywood and broken headstones. What was to become of them? With that to contemplate, I exited Boot Hill Cemetery and drove off into the sunset.

Lichen-covered marble headstone at Boot Hill Cemetery

Further Reading:
White Bronze Memorials blog by Ed Snyder

Cemetery Road Trip to North Jersey

Brownstone angel grave marker, Chester Cemetery, Chester, New Jersey

We had planned the trip a few weeks ahead of time, my friend Frank and I. The fact that it was twelve degrees Fahrenheit the morning we set out did not dissuade us. When it comes to art, we both realized you must sometimes suffer. Plus, in the words of Queen Elsa of Disney’s Frozen, “The cold never bothered me anyway” (song crescendo, crash, boom).

So off we went in Frank’s Chevy Blazer (floor heater not working), on a three hour dead-of-winter trip to northern New Jersey. The trip was uneventful while in Pennsylvania, though we did see a quaint church with a graveyard around Lahaska. The early morning light was perfect. We figured we’d hit it on the way back when the light was not so good (which is exactly what happened so never do this!).

Eventually we crossed into New Jersey, the land of roadside oddities. New Jersey is like an entire state filled with towns like Austin, Texas – here a pair of yellow Adirondack chairs the size of Volkswagens, there a giant ice cream cone ----- with a few dead deer thrown in for good measure. We actually had a destination in mind – this was not one of my usual ramshackle expeditions, setting out with inadequate funds and no map. We were headed for Chester, New Jersey. This is in north central New Jersey, which is a miasma of small towns, with no major highways connecting them. But hey, that’s why God gave us the GPS.

Frank had been up here recently on other business. While driving through the area, he noted some interesting churchyard cemeteries and an abandoned farmhouse that he wanted to photograph at a later date. Hence, our trip.

Chester "Cemetery," with First Congregational Church, Chester, NJ

Both cemeteries we found were, I guess, technically "graveyards." I recently read an article ("Difference between 'cemetery' and 'graveyard' in English") that defined each: a "graveyard is a type of cemetery, but a cemetery is usually not a graveyard."

"From about the 7th century, the process of burial was firmly in the hands of the Church (meaning the organization), and burying the dead was only allowed on the lands near a church (now referring to the building), the so-called churchyard. The part of the churchyard used for burial is called graveyard, ....

As the population of Europe started to grow, the capacity of graveyards was no longer sufficient (the population of modern Europe is almost 40 times higher than it was in the 7th century). By the end of the 18th century, the unsustainability of church burials became apparent, and completely new places, independent of graveyards, were devised—and these were called cemeteries." - "Difference between 'cemetery' and 'graveyard' in English"

So there you go. Both the Chester Cemetery and the Union Cemetery were, um, graveyards next to a church. The former alongside the First Congregational Church in Chester, New Jersey, and the latter in Califon, NJ, along Route 513, next to the Lower Valley Presbyterian Church. 

Union Cemetery, Califon, New Jersey

Zinc memorials, Union Cemetery

When we stopped in to explore the Union Cemetery (hey, that's what the sign on the fence said, what can I say!), I was surprised to see two massive, and well-preserved zinc, or white bronze memorials. These were in wonderful condition. This “graveyard” was established in 1910, about the time the zinc memorial craze was coming to an end in the United States. (Read more about zinc, or "white bronze" cemetery monuments on my Cemetery Traveler blog post, "White Bronze Memorials.")

Cemetery Traveler Frank in Union Cemetey

Did I mention that it was cold that day? Maybe it reached the low twenties by midday. I brought a few chemical pouch hand-warmers for inside my gloves, but got lazy. Both Frank and I would jump out of his warm and running truck to grab a few shots, thinking we’d only be out in the cold for a few minutes. Then of course, you become intrigued with some detail – a statue of a WWI “Doughboy,” an interesting inscription, an iron fence. Next thing you know, you look like Frank here!

Marble "doughboy," Union Cemetery

After a frigid half an hour at Union Cemetery, we drove toward Chester to explore an abandoned farmhouse, which was brilliant in its decay. Aged ruins are a big attraction for me, especially when they offer evidence of past lives - a mirror, a crumbling piano. We had to tear ourselves away from this after an hour or so in order to get to the Chester Cemetery, while the light was still good. Cold winter’s day, bright blue cloudless sky. It seems the sun is never directly overhead in the winter months (which of course it is, but just for a short time) which makes for good photography. 

Evidence of lives passed ....

We thawed out our hands on Frank’s dashboard heating vents as we drove the few miles to Chester. While there were no extravagant statues in Chester Cemetery (established in 1777), the iron fencing and the old stones were rather amazing. North central New Jersey must be the cutoff point in the northeast part of the U.S. where Colonial-era angel-carved headstones exist. North of here, they’re all over the place. You can’t swing as cat without hitting one, as Mark Twain would say. South of here, they are extremely rare. The reason? 

The far northeastern part of North America was the first area of the continent inhabited by the early European settlers, our immigrant ancestors, so this is where all the early stones are. As time went on and the population grew, it moved south and inland – along the way, burial practices changed as did the memorials used to mark the graves. 

1772 brownstone grave marker with angel, Chester Cemetery

I was particularly taken by the brownstone “angel head” carved stones you see here. Quite typical of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century in the U.S. There were not many carvers at the time, and while their overall style was similar, certain details differentiated the, Note, for instance, the long nose on the angel at the beginning of this article. My knowledge of these carvings is not great, so I was quite taken by the cloud-like thing over this angel’s head! Certainly not a toupee, do you think? LOL. I put the question out to my friends at the Association for Gravestone Studies (AGS). Perhaps in my next blog will be the explanation!

Cemetery Surprises in the Athenaeum

It’s a bit unusual for me to be surprised - I’m usually the surpriser. In my fifteen years of cemetery travel, I’ve seen a lot of death-related things, so I’m usually ready for the shocker when it is delivered. However, I was taken aback recently when a strange woman revealed something to me.

It was at an art opening reception at the Philadelphia Athenaeum (more on the Athenaeum later). I was holding my four-year-old daughter near the display case which houses Napoleon’s death mask (see photo above - his head was larger than I expected) when this woman next to us struck up a conversation. I was wearing my “artist” name tag so she asked which work on display was mine. When I told her there were two photographs, one made in Philadelphia’s Laurel Hill Cemetery and the other in Woodlands Cemetery, the floodgates just burst forth. She had many cemetery stories of her own, but strangely led off with this comment: “You know how when you stick your hand through the door grate of a mausoleum, it feels colder inside than out?”

I don’t know that I would open a conversation with a complete stranger with a line like that, but I was amused. A few other unusual things happened in relation to that Athenaeum exhibit. Before I continue, I should explain what exactly is an “athenaeum.” It’s a library of sorts, a private repository for documentation and historical artifacts. Most major cities in the U.S. have them. The Philadelphia Athenaeum was one of the city’s early libraries (established 1814), predating the massive Philadelphia Free Library which was not established until 1894. Ben Franklin actually originated the idea of subscription libraries in 1731 when he formed the Library Company of Philadelphia. Wikipedia and the Philadelphia Athenaeum’s own website describe it as:

“a special collections library and museum founded in 1814 to collect materials "connected with the history and antiquities of America, and the useful arts, and generally to disseminate useful knowledge" for public benefit. The Athenaeum's collections include architecture and interior design history, particularly for the period 1800 to 1945. The institution focuses on the history of American architecture and building technology, and houses architectural archives of 180,000 drawings, over 350,000 photographs, and manuscript holdings of about 1,000 American architects.”

Now, it isn’t much of a stretch to imagine that such a place houses cemetery-related relics, books, prints, etc. That was my first question to the extremely helpful Circulation Librarian during my first visit. Now, don’t get the mistaken impression that I knew exactly what I was looking for. After my two photographs were juried into the show, I simply stopped by to see the exhibit space at the Athenaeum before the exhibit opened. Honestly, I had no idea what an Athenaeum even was. This was weird because I have worked four blocks away from it for the past thirty years!

Page from the Monumental Bronze Company 1882 catalog of grave markers

Basically, the Philadelphia Athenaeum is one of the few remaining “pay” libraries in the United States. They have some basic fare, popular reading, and a most impressive Renaissance Revival reading room. However, they also have a massive collection of historic and architectural books, documents, portfolios, and trade journals the likes of which I never knew existed. I was actually able to page through an original copy of the (view the pages online here) 1882 catalog for the Monumental Bronze Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut (one of two manufacturers of zinc, or “white bronze” grave markers)! In addition to the Monumental Bronze catalog, they have Sleeping Beauty.

Not the Disney Sleeping Beauty, but the book by Stanley Burns, MD. The first and only time I ever saw this book (and only but briefly thumbed through its deeply disturbing reproductions of nineteenth century postmortem photographs) was in Asbury Park, New Jersey’s Paranormal Books and Curiosities shop. This oversized, coffee table book was $300, new. A steal at the time, in 2007; now they're $300 used, and $700 for a collectible, i.e., an autographed copy, as shown above. Its a coffee table book in the sense that you would never leave it on your coffee table for anyone to see. I was even reluctant to return to the Athenaeum to browse through its pages; I almost felt like requesting a small dark private room in which to do so.

Paging through the book, "Sleeping Beauty"

Here’s a link to the book Sleeping Beauty on Amazon.com (you’ll notice there’s no “look inside!” link on the site, to view sample pages.)

It turns out that the Athenaeum has many, many cemetery-related books, or rather, “sepulchral” materials. “Sepulchral,” the librarian told me, is the official library designation search term for such things. And, it turns out, if you search the Internet with that word, you turn up different information than if you search on terms like, “cemetery,” “monuments,” “grave stones,” or “graveyards.” Very useful information for one such as myself.

The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, print by John Notman, 1847

As I mentioned earlier, The Philadelphia Athenaeum was established in 1814. So what, pray tell, has it been doing with itself for these past two hundred years? And why have so few people heard of it, so few enthralled by its hidden wonders? Turns out the organization was a rather closed society until 2007 when a new director took over. Since then, the Philadelphia Athenaeum has been much more open and welcoming to the public and is totally worth a visit. Where else will you find a vintage brass inkwell formed into the shape of Napoleon’s burial crypt?

Athenaeum exhibit image, Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia by Ed Snyder

To celebrate its Two Hundredth Anniversary (in 2014), the Athenaeum decided to host an art exhibition, featuring renditions of historic buildings and sites around Philadelphia. I was fortunate to have two of my photographs juried into the show. One of them, incidentally, was an image I made in Philadelphia’s Laurel Hill Cemetery (which won third place in the exhibition, see above). Laurel Hill was designed in 1836 by the same man who designed the Athenaeum building in 1845 - Scottish architect John Notman (1810-1865). Laurel Hill was the nation’s second rural garden cemetery (Mount Auburn in Cambridge Massachusetts was the first).

"Woodlands," by Ed Snyder

Here is the second of my two photographs which were juried into the “PhiladelphiaAthenaeum: 200th Anniversary Art Exhibition." The exhibit features the work of local artists portraying Philadelphia’s rich collection of historical places. This image was made during a heavy snowfall at Philadelphia's Woodlands Cemetery. If you plan to visit the Athenaeum, the exhibit (which ends August 8, 2014) features about sixty truly delightful images in various media (the gallery is the first room on the right as you enter the building). Enjoy the Philadelphia Athenaeum's other offerings as well - it may hold as many surprises for you as it did for me.

For a good introduction of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, this article from Philly.com describes how old world, yet cutting-edge it is!

"Buried Philadelphia: The Cemeteries and Burial Grounds of the City of Brotherly Love" - Interview with the Author

My friend Jenn O’Donnell has a new book out, entitled, Buried Philadelphia: The Cemeteries and Burial Grounds of the City of Brotherly Love (Fonthill Media, 2025). After purchasing a copy of the book, I had some questions! Photographing and researching cemeteries in Philadelphia has been one of my passions, so I was surprised by how much I did not know! Jenn graciously agreed to an interview. Here’s a synopsis of her book, followed by my interview. All photos are Jenn's and can be found in her book. Enjoy!

Explores the city's cemeteries, blending history, art, and recreation in forgotten burial grounds transformed into urban green spaces.

Many of Philadelphia’s oldest graveyards have been lost to time in the name of progress and expansion. The cityscape changes, the remains of the dead are moved (or not) to new locations, and new buildings are erected. Modern Philadelphia still contains dozens of burial grounds, from the tiny Colonial-era churchyards of Old City to the sprawling acreage of the once rural cemeteries fashioned after Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Unfortunately, numerous remaining cemeteries in the city are simply running out of space and as lot sales and burials dwindle, so does the money for upkeep and maintenance.

1.        Welcome Jenn! Can you tell us why you wrote this book?

I’ve been interested in photography since high school when I took three years of classes learning to shoot and develop film and make prints in a darkroom. As an adult I developed an interest in cemetery photography after realizing these places are some of the most beautiful and peaceful spots around. When the publisher of the Buried America series approached me asking if I would be interested in doing a book about Philadelphia cemeteries, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity!

2.        People likely think of cemeteries as stagnant, or at least staid, entities. You obviously know differently. Can you share some insight with us into what it takes to keep a cemetery from falling apart …and why it is that we should care.

I describe myself as a taphophile, someone who enjoys and appreciates cemeteries. I don’t consider myself morbid, just fascinated by the human desire to bury our loved ones in graveyards and erect varied monuments in their memory. Cemeteries are full of art and history, and are a reflection of the society in which they exist. That’s why I care, and why I think others should as well.

Mary Adele Hirst monument, Cathedral Cemetery, West Philadelphia

Many people think a cemetery is forever, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. All of them need fairly massive amounts of labor and money to keep their grounds looking nice and the gates open, so when normal revenue streams dry up and the space is filled, the cemetery needs to find alternatives to pay the bills.

Bald Cypress tree in West Oak Lane's Northwood Cemetery

3.        You talk about “recreational opportunities” offered by cemeteries. Does it bother people, in your experience, when cemeteries host concerts, tours, or craft markets?

There is certainly a small, but sometimes very vocal group of people who think any activity in a cemetery that isn’t directly related to a funeral or mourning should be barred from cemeteries and there are plenty of cemeteries that do not allow recreational activities on their grounds. However, Victorian-era rural cemeteries were intended to be places where people could enjoy the grounds and sculpture, have a picnic, or otherwise relax. I find more often than not, people are intrigued by the idea of spending leisure time at their local cemetery—even more so when they realize most modern cemeteries cannot survive without the interest and support of their neighbors.

4.        Your great experience volunteering in cemeteries provides us with many behind-the-scenes glimpses at these properties that most people have never thought about. For instance, you say it is a common misconception that all graves have a marker of some sort, and that Woodlands Cemetery has “grave gardeners.” Can you share with us any other behind-the-scenes cemetery stories not in your book?

In my experience, Jewish cemeteries are the most welcoming to researchers or photographers. Mikveh Israel required picking up gate keys to access the Spruce Street and Federal Street cemeteries, and they seemed excited that I was interested in including their historic properties in my book. Active cemeteries can sometimes be provincial places, but the greater-Philadelphia area’s Jewish cemeteries were so accommodating. I didn’t have time to visit the third Mikveh Israel cemetery on Market Street, but I hope to sometime soon.

5.        “About the Author” says that you’ve photographed over 150,000 headstones for findagrave.com. That is a staggering number! Tell us a bit about that.

Entrance to the 1692 Hood Cemetery, Germantown

I joined findagrave.com in 2008 because I was interested in genealogy and found the website a great way to search for new information. The website is collaborative, and users from all over the world add information and take photos of graves for other people. After having some photo requests fulfilled for my own ancestors, I thought, “I can do this for other people” so I started fulfilling requests at my local cemeteries. That led to me photographing as many graves as possible when visiting a cemetery, something findagrave.com members refer to as “mowing the rows”.

6.        Looking through “Buried Philadelphia,” one sees a great variety of gravemarker styles. Do you have a favorite?

My favorite marker styles are white bronze monuments (referred to as “zinkies”) or tree stump tombstones. Porcelain portraits are a close third. I find each of these styles a unique departure from a basic flat or slant marker that you see by the thousands in most cemeteries. White bronze monuments fascinate me because they are made of metal panels and are hollow. Not only have they stood the test of time, but it’s fun to knock on them and hear the reverb.

7.        Being a cemetery traveler myself, I was fascinated by your photo of the silver-painted cast-iron angel grave marker on page 64. That is quite unique. May I ask where you found her?

Cast iron marker, St. Dominic Cemetery

I came across that cast-iron angel at Saint Dominic Roman Catholic Church Cemetery https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/1973644/saint-dominic-roman-catholic-cemetery in the Holmesburg section of Northeast Philly.  A lot of the monuments in this cemetery are what I would consider pretty standard looking, but there are some definite gems like this one.

8.        Related to my opening remarks, I am curious what you see as the future state of Philadelphia cemeteries. What do you think these wonderful memory gardens will look like in 20 years?

I think most cemeteries, especially those in Philadelphia, are reaching a point where they are quickly running out of space for new lot sales and interments. Some have pivoted to less space intensive options like columbaria or niches for cremains, but I think all of them will face challenges as income declines. In the next 20 years, I think we will see more cemeteries facing dereliction or abandonment if they don’t come up with new ways to bring in money. Some cemeteries that are planning ahead have looked for new ways to keep their properties relevant that have nothing to do with burials such as events and programming.

Obelisks in Cathedral Cemetery, West Philadelphia

9.        I’m sure there are many fascinating stories you can tell about your cemetery travels, your volunteer work, and so on. Do you have any speaking engagements scheduled, now that your book has been published? I am sure that people would like to ask you questions!

I do not have any speaking engagements scheduled that I can share, but I’m working on scheduling some with local organizations. I’ll be sure to share any confirmed dates on my Instagram account @cems_and_things.

10.   Are there any other books that you are working on?

I’m working on a second book for Fonthill Media/America Through Time’s Buried America series tentatively titled, “Philadelphia’s Mount Moriah Cemetery: The Ruin and Rebirth of the City’s Largest Cemetery”.  I’ve been volunteering at Mount Moriah for well over a decade and as the current board president it’s a subject I’m quite knowledgeable about. This book will hopefully hit stores sometime in 2026.

11.   Would you like to leave us with any parting comments about Philadelphia’s cemeteries?

Many of Philadelphia’s cemeteries have seen better days and there are some that don’t regularly have visitors anymore. My hope is that my book sheds a little light on why these places are important to the fabric of the city and that the photos are intriguing enough that more people will become cemetery explorers.

To purchase a copy of Jenn’s book, Buried Philadelphia: The Cemeteries and Burial Grounds of the City of Brotherly Love, please visit:

https://www.amazon.com/Buried-Philadelphia-Cemeteries-Grounds-Brotherly/dp/1625451504

On behalf of the Cemetery Traveler readership, I would like to thank Jenn O’Donnell for spending some time wish us and with her great success with this and her next book!

Vicarious Cemetery Travel

Bianca, by Mike Spak

At the beginning of June, 2015, I took a trip to Denver, Colorado, with my family. I had to teach all weekend at a medical conference, and had no opportunity to do any cemetery travel. One evening we had dinner with my friend Mike Spak, who lives in Boulder, Colorado. During dinner, he began showing me the photos on his smart phone. Oddly, several were cemetery photos that he had taken in various places.

I had forgotten that he did this sort of thing. So during dinner, I enjoyed some cemetery travel vicariously through him! The photos you see here are all Mike's.

The angel with the guitar belongs to Bianca Halstead (1965 – 2001), a.k.a Bianca Butthole. She was the bassist and lead singer of the Hollywood-based hard rock band Betty Blowtorch. Bianca was killed in an auto accident in New Orleans. She is buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, CA.  Hollywood Forever is a “must see” for any Cemetery Traveler. I’ve been there twice. (Read more about Bianca here http://foodchainrecords.com/bianca/)

Photo by Mike Spak

William S. Burroughs (1914 – 1997), is the American beat writer famous for his 1959 counterculture novel Naked Lunch. He is interred in the Burroughs family plot in Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri. I have always felt guilty for not reading Burroughs, though I am a big fan of Jack Kerouac, another beat writer. Quite a bit of Kerouac’s novel On the Road is based in Denver, and I did feel a bit of that vibe walking down Larimer Street, which is where Kerouac hit town in 1947 when this area was the town’s skid row.

The “Black Angel of Council Bluffs;" photo by Mike Spak

Now for the “Black Angel” of Council Bluffs. Okay, so I thought I knew my cemetery lore. I also thought Mike made up this moniker because this Victorian-era bronze patina angel had taken on a dark hue. Turns out it is locally known as the “Black Angel of Council Bluffs,” Council Bluffs being a town in Iowa across the Missouri River from Omaha, Nebraska.

The angel resides in Fairview Cemetery, marking the grave of Ruth Ann Dodge. The bronze sculpture holds a bronze basin of running water and appears to be standing in a granite boat. After Dodge died in 1916, her two daughters commissioned the memorial to be made by Daniel Chester French, who is best known for creating the white marble statue of Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. According to the website, www.prairieghosts.com, the young women “had strict criteria for French as to how the angel was supposed to look. They wanted it to be a likeness of an angel that had appeared to their mother during a series of visions that she had before her death.”

Interesting. Many such sculptures are created either from a mold or from a live model. This one appeared to be created in the likeness of an actual angel. According to www.prairieghosts.com, Dodge’s dreams were realistic and overwhelming visions about which her daughter Anne stated: “We realized this was no dream, no ordinary occurrence, but an apparition such as appeared to those saints of olden times, who were spiritual seers, holy enough to penetrate the fleshly veil and view spiritual things hidden from the worldly minded.”

Photo by Mike Spak

In these visions, Ruth Dodge described to her daughters that she was on the rocks of a seashore. Out of the mist, “she saw an ancient boat appear that was covered with roses and rare and fragrant flowers. As it approached, she saw that a beautiful young woman was standing in the bow of the ship. As soon as Ruth saw her, she knew that she was a spiritual being and “not of this earth.” (ref.)

Excerpt from “Iowa’s Mysterious Black Angels:”

“The young woman was clad in a glistening white garment that fell in long folds from her shoulders to her feet. Her hair, which reached to her shoulders, looked like spun gold, forming a halo around her head. Her eyes were bright and seemed to look at Ruth, and yet through her, and were filled with an expression that was beyond description.”

The being came toward Ruth carrying a vessel under her arm. The vessel was filled with water that Ruth said “glistened, glittered and sparkled like millions of diamonds.” The woman offered it to her and urged her to drink from it, telling her that it contained a blessing. But as much as Ruth craved the water, she told her daughters, she was not ready to drink it just yet. A few moments later, she “awoke” and the vision was gone. (ref.)

"Ruth had the same vision three times and on the third time, she drank from the water that the angel offered her. A few days later, she died. On her deathbed, she told her daughters that the angel offered her the “wonderful water of life. I drank from it and it gave me immortality.” (ref.)

To the best of their abilities, and based on Ruth’s physical description of the supernatural being in her visions, her daughters had the “black angel” sculpted and placed over their mother’s grave. They must have assumed it was an angel, since their mother never mentioned wings. The angel is standing in a granite boat and is carrying a vessel with water that continually runs. I never really thought about fountains in cemeteries. The angel may symbolize immortality, but then so might running water. The water of life ....

So thanks to my friend Mike for the virtual cemetery tour!