WCEM_101: Mount Auburn Cemetery

Season 1 Episode 1

Episode Description

Mount Auburn Cemetery, founded in 1831, is a National Historic Landmark. The stunning landscape, monuments and gardens draw over 200,000 visitors per year. Host Roberto Mighty explores the lives of Dorothea Dix, a pioneering advocate for the mentally ill; and Edmonia Lewis, a renowned African-American/Native-American sculptor. Reenactments: escaped slave-turned philanthropist; a medical student’s sacrifice.

STORIES THIS EPISODE

• Medical student’s’ sacrifice during the Smallpox Epidemic of 1849

• Three Glorious Trees

• Modern day Mourner

• Edmonia Lewis, 19th Century African/Native American Sculptor

• Pollinator Garden

• 19th Century: Peter Byus Flees to Boston, For Freeom

• Burial Trends

• A Civil War-era crusader for the Mentally Ill

Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge and Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Boston. It is the burial site of many prominent members of the Boston Brahmins, as well-being a National Historic Landmark. Dedicated in 1831 and set with classical monuments in a rolling landscaped terrain, it marked a distinct break with Colonial-era burying grounds and church-affiliated graveyards. The appearance of this type of landscape coincides with the rising popularity of the term "cemetery," derived from the Greek for "a sleeping place," instead of graveyard. This language and outlook eclipsed the previous harsh view of death and the afterlife embodied by old graveyards and church burial plots. Official website: https://mountauburn.org/

Guest Expert: Marilyn Richardson

Title: Arts Consultant

Marilyn Richardson is Principal, Art History Consultants — programs, exhibitions and research for museums, historical societies, schools, etc. Former curator of the Museum of African American History and The African Meeting House, Beacon Hill, Boston, MA.  Former full-time and part-time Lecturer, Assistant Professor, MIT Writing Program, Women's Studies.- Author of Maria W. Stewart, America's First Black Woman Political Writer. https://www.linkedin.com/in/marilynrichardson 

Guest Expert: Rene Najera, Dr.Ph

Title: Editor, History of Vaccines Project. College of Physicians of Philadelphia

Born and raised in Juarez, Mexico, on the border with Texas, Rene Najera came to the United States at the age of ten. He attended the University of Texas at El Paso, earning a BS in Medical Technology. Earned a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Epidemiology in 2007 at George Washington University. With his MPH, Najera went on to work at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) as an epidemiologist in the Prevention and Health Promotion Administration. Najera graduated from the Department of Epidemiology. He focused his thesis on the intersection of infectious disease and the social determinants of health. https://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/blog/editor-rene-najera 

Guest Expert: Grace Chapman Elton

Title: Chief Executive Officer, Tower Hill Botanic Garden

Grace Chapman Elton was director of Horticulture at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden from 2011 to 2017. During her tenure here, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden was named USA Today’s “#4 Best Public Garden in North America” and a “Top 10 North American Garden.” In 2017 Grace was hired as CEO at the historic Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, MA. www.towerhillbg.org 

Guest Expert: L’Merchie Frazier

Title: Director of Education and Interpretation, Museum of African American History

L/Merchie Frazier is a Boston based visual and performance artist /educator /consultant and currently serves as the Director of Education at the Museum of African-American History, Boston / Nantucket. www.maah.org 

Guest Expert: David Barnett

Title: President and CEO, Mount Auburn Cemetery

Dave came to Mount Auburn in 1993 as the Director of Horticulture. In 1999 he became the Cemetery’s Vice President of Operations & Horticulture, and in January 2008 he was appointed Mount Auburn’s first Executive Vice President. He was appointed President & CEO on September 10, 2008. Dave was President of the American Public Gardens Association (APGA) from 2007 to 2009 and served on the APGA Board for a total of nine years. He is currently President of the Horticultural Club of Boston. www.mountauburn.org 

Guest Expert: Bree Harvey

Title:Vice President of Cemetery & Visitor Services, Mount Auburn Cemetery 

Guest Expert: Stephen Pinkerton

Title: Docent, Mount Auburn Cemetery

Guest Expert: Virginia Brady

Title: Docent, Mount Auburn Cemetery

Actor: Kathryn Howell

Portrays voice of Dorothea Dix, crusader for the mentally ill

Kathryn Graham Howell is an award winning film actress, known for The Chrysalis (2020), Home Invasion (2020), Come Here Often? (2019) and Peach Pie (2016). https://www.backstage.com/u/kathryn-graham-howell/

Actor: Paul Benford-Bruce

Portrays Peter Byus, escaped enslaved man from Virginia

Paul S. Benford-Bruce: is a New England-based Actor. August Wilson play reading series, UMass, Boston, (Eddie), Duck And Cover at The West End Studio Theatre, Portsmouth, NH, (Crime Scene Witness) PBS  Documentary, Brains On Trial, hosted by Alan Alda, (Imam) in The Moment at The Apollinaire Theater, Chelsea Ma. (Father) in Write Something for Me, The Apollinaire Theater, (Cheswick) in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at The Player’s Ring, Portsmouth, NH. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9992091/ 

Actor: Colin Prato

Portrays 19th Century Harvard Medical Student

Colin Prato is a film and theatre actor currently based out of New England. Hailing from Southern Maine, he got his BA in theatre at the University of New Hampshire. There he was involved in many performative endeavors (university and professional) such as playing Odysseus in The Odyssey at UNH, Christopher Boone in Curious Incident at Hackmatack Playhouse, and performing with UNH’s improv comedy troupe. Colin has also been lucky enough to have wonderful film roles such as Miles in Quinn Holmes’ To Sail Against the Wind and Dylan in Katherine Whalen’s Half Staff Summer. Please enjoy World’s Greatest Cemeteries! https://www.colinjprato.com

This Episode Licensed Media Attributions: S1 Ep1

Title: Ricketts, "Diagnosis of smallpox"

Description: Head of man with smallpox

Source: Wellcome Images: https://wellcomecollection.org/ 

Author: Wellcome Library, London

License: CC 4.0

Link to License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

------------------------------

Title: Grave of Edmonia Lewis after restoration

Description: Grave of Edmonia Lewis after restoration

Source: E M Lander Company

Author:  John Doe

License: CC 4.0

Link to License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en 

--------------------------------

Title: Portrait of Edmonia Lewis

Description: carte de visite photo

Source: Gift of an anonymous donor, 2011

Author:  Fratelli d'Alessandri (Manufacturer) ca.1874-1876

License: CC.0

###