Friday, August 24, 2012
Green-Wood Cemetery Vandalism
Earlier this week a handful of degenerates destroyed $100,000 worth of gravestones and monuments in historic Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. Included in the damage was an urn from the Frederick G. Bourne mausoleum designed by Ernest Flagg. The urn had been pushed off its pedestal and broke in half when it hit the ground. Click HERE for more on the story. Quite pathetic indeed.
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More here --
http://www.green-wood.com/2012/green-wood-vandalized/
"Although neither Green-Wood Cemetery nor The Green-Wood Historic Fund have any legal obligation to repair vandalized monuments, we are stepping up here and will be repairing each and every one of them. We also have been contacting the families of those whose graves were desecrated."
Our village cemetery has been similarly vandalized a couple of times. In a small town, where everyone knows everyone, one wishes the vandals could see the heartwrenching shock and sorrow that an elderly woman feels when the graves of her husband or parents is toppled. Nobody could be that cruel.
Several stones have also been stolen over the years, including the slate stone, with appropriate weeping willow design, of my 5xGGrandfather
Vandalism always makes me so much more angry than other crimes -the shear waste, hatred and stupidity. What a shame, it's heart breaking.
I have never been to Greenwood but have seem many old photos of it, since it was once of the most photographed spots of 19th century America. Elaborate cemeteries such as Greenwood were set up so that the memory and achievements of the past would serve as an inspiration to the living, thus the base nature of these destructive acts is especially pointed and ironic.
--Road to Parnassus
The damage from those photos is some of the most severe I've seen. Repugnant! A lot of physical effort had to be invested (that marble arch has withstood decades of mother nature's wrath) along with time to inflict that much damage.
A sad reflection on the lack of civility in today's America.
Thankfully, our insignificant family markers went apparently untouched (some date to the Civil War).
Bad enough I was 2 blocks away from this morning's shootings at Empire State --- such a lovely week, overall.
On the broader topic of gravestone restoration, there's this --
http://www.gravestonepreservation.info/
It's an excellent introduction to all that goes into cemetery and monument restoration.
For decades the general public were barred entry to Green~Wood. Recently a new generation of supervisory personnel brought a renewed philosophy of openness. The public were once again welcome to roam. Photo exhibitions are sometimes offered in its Gothic halls. The event of last week could put an end to all of that.
Did anyone need further proof of humanity's seemingly useless existence? Not this already dejected heart. It came anyway.
Such senseless vandalism.
The tours at Green-Wood provide a wonderful glimpse into 19th and 20th century funerary design and will not end. Green-Wood and Woodlawm in the Bronx are both listed on the National Register.
Anon2:31 It is surprising that man, the only species that is so careless, wasteful, stupid, vain, ignorant and arrogant has managed to survive for as long as we have. NYarch
Sad, but if one visits Green-Wood and admires the many memorials and achievements of its illustrious residents then maybe there is a bit of hope for us after all. The Clarence H Mackay mausoleum with its finely executed sculptures comes to mind.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=8073237&PIpi=9771337
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