I just returned from a four-day trip to shoot fall foliage in new england and this is the first image I am sharing. Eddy’s favorite flower, the morning glory, which opens to the light and closes to the darkness, the lamp of wisdom and a sheaf of wheat. Among the details incorporated into the design are the wild rose, which was Mrs. The Mary Baker Eddy monument has been acknowledged as one of the finest examples of the granite carver’s craft. As an acknowledgement to the harsh New England winter, Bethel, Vermont, white granite was substituted because it withstands the elements significantly better than marble. Originally, the architect specified the monument be constructed of Colorado or Vermont white marble.
Swarthout omitted a roof because he felt there should be “nothing between the grave and sky but flowers”. Egerton Swarthout, a New York architect, won the competition in 1914, with a tholos form design of a circular colonnade consisting of 8 columns each 15 feet in height. The Mary Baker Eddy monument does not follow that mold, instead, it was the result of a design competition. Often, monuments and mausolea are designed by the same architect who designed other residences for the family. I must thank my friend Morrie who helped keep my camera dry under an umbrella while I moved around the structure with the flash. Doing so allowed the texture and inscriptions to reveal themselves. This cemetery is a community institution which deserves commendation, for it renders far more than twenty-four hour service.This monument was completely in the dark until I illuminated it with flash. 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.