Père Lachaise Cemetery Sept., 2000

Actress Sarah Bernhardt

A beautiful example of the Art Nouveau style.

Frederic Chopin

Jim Morrison

 Oscar Wilde

Twenty Questions

Twenty Questions

Who is the board and how are they chosen? Is it still the “philanthropic, rich” families?

Could these plots be sold like currency?

Were all religions accepted here? Was there some who could not buy here? Differing social classes?

Did families move their parents here from other places? How?

Are there people who are memorialized on the monuments but buried elsewhere?

There is so much space in some of these plots. Did the families die out?

Were women who married other large families get interred in their plots?

Can descendents still be buried there?

Did the families have an input into the horticulture; was it part of the planning?

Why no more large monuments anymore? It’s like losing an art form.

Who designed these sculptures? Was there a business that specialized in these monuments? Who chose the symbolism?

The Stevensons seem to have bought late but they have a prime spot on a jetty on the lake. How did they get such a prime location? See question 3.

Has the park been reconfigured through the years?

What disasters have affected the cemetery and how?

The Dexters have a private chapel with their crypt. What was it used for?

I saw a plaque for “perpetual management” on a plot. Did they purchase this and some did not?

Did the families who didn’t pay have to maintain these plots? Is this no longer a choice?

How were the lakes created? Are they a product of the channeling of the swampy areas, or are they completely man made?

The wildlife-do things like the Koi need to be periodically replenished or are these the descendents of original animals? Some Koi can live to be up to 200 years. Can these be original Koi?

Are the animals that live in the area cared for in some way or are they left to live and die naturally?

Our First Exploration

Beautiful flowers, a massive pond complete with fountain and large Koi, and weathered trees and bushes surrounded the section of the cemetery explored by my partner and I. As we walked through one of the original sections of the cemetery, the history of our city sprung up around us. Those that developed the cultural hub of Cincinnati are buried spaciously around the lake, most with a view of the water. 

            The headstones, mausoleums, and statues that we passed touched on the history and development of our city. We passed the elaborate Dexter mausoleum, as well as the McAlpin monument, the Fleischmann temple, the West monument, and the Erkenbrecher monument. The founders of institutions such as the zoo, the art museum, the Tyler Davidson fountain, and the cemetery are buried within this section. We walked a road map of Cincinnati, as many of the names we passed are reflected in the street names and prominent buildings of our city.

            The park atmosphere was also heavily present in this section. Although the large pond that was the centerpiece of the section appears to have been neglected, it may have been used for wading, boating, and fishing. The shady spaces between the family plots provide a perfect area for a Sunday afternoon picnic. Families have strategically placed benches as their monuments, with views of the lake. The family plots contained within this section are spaced out, which added to the park-like atmosphere of our examination.

            There were many different heritages and artistic influences observed in this area. The Fleischmann temple is a replica of the Greek Parthenon. The Dexter mausoleum is Gothic in nature. We also passed a few statues that seemed to be roman in nature. The engravings placed on headstones further showed different cultural areas, beliefs, and professions by the placement of Greek letters. 

            My partner and I spent much of our time trying to decipher the familial relationships. The family plots were arranged in many different manners. Some resembled spokes in a wheel, others appeared more “family tree” and linear in arrangement. We passed one plot that we had to wonder of one of the members was ostracized, due to the amount of space between the rest of the family and her burial site (If this site lets me, I will add the video I took of this). In the era that most of the people buried here lived, lifespans were shorter, but sometimes dates did not match up easily. We found graves of those who died before the opening of Spring Grove and we wondered how that was possible, or if the person was actually buried there. We concluded prosperous sons had their progenitors exhumed from where they were originally buried and moved there for easy visitation or simply erected a monument to show linage. We asked as we walked, who were these people? What did they do? How did a name we did not recognize afford a prime burial spot?

Charles West

Charles West, Founder of the Cincinnati Art Museum

1st assignment

I have always been fascinated by history. Not just the big events or famous people but the everyday people and how they lived against the backdrops of these events. Cemeteries are a reflection of these events and the cultures of the people who lived them. From the Boston puritan grave of Elizabeth Pain, thought to be the inspiration for Hawthorne’s Hester Prynne, to the colossal, ornate final resting place of Emperor Napoleon in Paris’ Les Invalides, graves can tell us so much about the person that lies there. Social status, religion, era, family or, in Napoleon’s case, level of megalomania, this is the part of history that I love.

I was raised by a person that loves cemeteries and I suppose that love was passed onto me. My life has been intertwined with Spring Grove, walking through Spring Grove as a child, picnics at the Fleischman mausoleum in college and my Grandmother’s funeral at the Norman Chapel as an adult. This love has translated into visits to cemeteries in Boston, Paris, London and Rome. Wandering through the headstones I try to imagine what their lives were like and how they died. I wonder what they would think of the world today.

I also love the art and architecture of cemeteries. Magnificent carvings, grand obelisks and ornate findings embellish these grand monuments creating works of art as beautiful as any painting. Some graves are to impress while others are simply to mark the passing of a beloved family member but in their own way they are all beautiful.

Cemeteries are not only a glimpse into the lives of others but also into a piece of history. They lived and no matter how insignificant their grave may seem, they mattered to someone.