New Life for Old Cemeteries

Welcome to the New Life for Old Cemeteries Digital Tour. For those participating in the conference remotely, we've created this digital tour so that you can "visit" the sites of each of the conference's co-sponsors. You can use the navigation bar at the top of the screen to learn more about the co-sponsoring sites. The sites included historic cemeteries of different eras, arboretums, and historic structures. Each organization brings a unique story to the cultural fabric of Philadelphia, and we hope you enjoy the tour.

 Arch Street Meeting House and Burial Ground  is an active place of Quaker worship and museum. 

The property upon which Arch Street Meeting House was built is the site of the first official burial ground in Philadelphia. Although the plot of land was officially deeded to the Society of Friends by William Penn in 1701, burials had been taking place here informally since 1683. 

There are as many as 20,000 bodies buried on the Arch Street Meeting House property, is burial shafts that are 3-4 deep. Burial took place in family plots for about 100 years and then were transitioned to burial onto these family plots in simple rows in chronological order of internment. 

Quaker burial grounds, like the one on Arch Street, were not limited to members of the Religious Society of Friends. According to Philadelphia Monthly Meeting Property Committee Reports, Quakers were buried here alongside “Indians, Blacks and strangers.” This was especially the case during the 1793 Yellow Fever Epidemic when bodies of non-Friends were reportedly thrown over the burial ground wall in hopes that the Quaker grave tenders would bury them. As space became limited at the site, there was a greater emphasis on accepting only Quaker burials. 

When visiting you may notice that the property you will notice few grave markers as Quakers were discouraged from using headstones or grave markers from the late 18th Century to the middle of the 19th Century. Grave markers were thought to draw excessive attention to oneself and seen as “inconsistent with the plainness of our Principles and Practice.”

Samuel Nicholas, lauded as the First Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, and founder of the Continental Marines during the Revolutionary War. He was “read out of meeting” or excommunicated from the Quaker faith for his support of the Revolutionary War but was still allowed to be buried onsite. 

The creation of the  Eden Cemetery Company  was a collaborative effort to provide a sanctuary in the Philadelphia area where African Americans could be buried with dignity and respect. Founded at the height of Jim Crow, six years after Plessy v. Ferguson, Eden Cemetery is Philadelphia's African American answer to a burial crisis created in the community, due to segregation, urban expansion, public works projects, vandalism, condemnation, and the closure of earlier Black burial grounds and cemeteries. Having a dignified place for burial was a long-standing challenge to African Americans due to racism, but by the end of the 19th century the situation in Philadelphia grew even more dire with the closures of Lebanon and Olive cemeteries and the enactment of municipal ordinances that in effect prohibited the creation of new African American cemeteries within City limits.  

Opened in 1902, Eden represented African American agency to address these problems by establishing a new cemetery in suburban Delaware County on fifty-three acres that were part of Bartram Farm, birthplace of the well known botanist, John Bartram, and as a "collection cemetery" for dislocated earlier black burial grounds and cemeteries. This move was fraught with challenges. On August 12, 1902, Collingdale's residents blocked the entrance to the cemetery, protesting "a colored burial ground" in their community. Authorities of the borough delayed the funeral for hours. The Delaware County community protested against its opening using a court injunction. The headline in the August 13th, Chester County Times read: "Collingdale Has More Race Troubles, Town Council Has No Use for a Colored Funeral, No African Need Apply." When a compromise was finally reached, Eden was able to have its first burial on August 14, 1902. 

Since its beginning, Eden, an active cemtery, has been a steward of the history and culture of a people, of communities made invisible, and of Philadelphia’s earliest African American burial grounds and cemeteries. Eden is an exceptional monument to the national African American civil rights story and to Philadelphia's 7th Ward, whose many residents are buried there. The final resting place of many distinguished residents, monuments throughout the cemetery eternally memorialize the lives of many who are an important part of history and the communities that they represent. Citizens of Eden include: Julian Abele; Marian Anderson; Octavius V. Catto; Frances Ellen Watkins Harper; and, George Henry White. 

Abolitionists, business persons, and philanthropists, Henrietta Smith Bowers Duterte and William Still are two of the "Citizens of Eden" that embody the historical memory and the cultural continuity that resides at Eden. 

Henrietta Smith Bowers Duterte, 1817-1903, Lebanon 128, doing business under her own name, was the first woman undertaker in Philadelphia and in the nation. As an agent of the Underground Railroad, she used her successful business to ensure formerly enslaved African Americans freedom seekers safe passage through Philadelphia.

Learn more about Henrietta Smith Bowers Duterte at  Historic America  and the  Colored Conventions Project .  

William Still, 1821-1902, Lebanon 16, is known as the Father of the Underground Railroad. His monumental work, "The Underground Railroad", published in 1872, chronicles the stories of freedom seekers through carefully compiled detailed documentation collected through his work as an abolitionist and an oral historian. Although dangerous to maintain, the records were hidden at Lebanon Cemetery, knowing that the accounts would be critical in aiding the future reunion of family members who had been torn apart under chattel slavery. Lebanon Cemetery was relocated to Eden in 1903. 

You can read more about William Still on  his page at the Temple University Libraries 

Incorporated in 1836 and 1869 respectively, historic  Laurel Hill  and  West Laurel Hill  Cemeteries are non-profit, non-denominational cemeteries that together form a 265-acre arboretum and outdoor sculpture garden rich in cultural and social history. The cemeteries continue to serve families in their time of tragedy and loss, provide beautiful open space for outdoor respite and healthy activity, and are anchor institutions in the community. These endeavors are supported by three foundational pillars: Eternal Rest, Recreation, and Civic Value.

Sarah Josepha Hale, 1788-1879, Section X, Lot 61

Ever wonder why we decorate trees in our homes at Christmas? Or how Thanksgiving became a national holiday? The origins of these traditions and so many others lie with one woman who rests here, someone you’ve probably never heard of – Sarah Josepha Hale. 

As editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, Hale set the standards for fashion, housekeeping, cooking, and entertaining for over forty years. Women across America anxiously awaited each issue and its color plates of Parisian dresses, sewing patterns, recipes, and parlor games. While Queen Victoria set the trend, it was Hale’s publication that helped to make the white wedding gown an enduring tradition in the States.

Hale was born in 1788 to progressive parents who believed in educating girls. While other girls of her era learned just enough of the ABCs to read the Bible and keep their household accounts balanced, Hale received the same instruction as her brother Horatio. Her education served her well.

After her husband died, Hale was left a young widow with five children. She turned to writing and editing to support her family, publishing anonymously, as ‘ladies’ were not considered writers at the time. Her best-selling novel, Northwood: A Tale of New England, was a ripping tale of slavery’s effects on the North and South. She also wrote a book of children’s verse that included the classic, ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb.’ The poem is famous for being the first speech recorded by Thomas Edison on his newly invented phonograph.

Hale came to Philadelphia when a magazine she was editing was purchased by publisher Louis Godey, whose more lavish marble crypt (the only above ground mausoleum in sight) is just one hundred yards away from Hale’s modest stone. As editor, she had doubled, tripled, and then tripled again his circulation and added more essays, fiction, and poetry.

Hale published original material in her magazine and commissioned work from new American writers like Harriet Beecher Stowe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and a newcomer to Philadelphia, Edgar Allan Poe. She published issues devoted exclusively to women authors. Godey’s Lady’s Book was the first to copyright each issue to stop other publishers from stealing their material. Hale also wrote and edited anthologies of verse by women writers, a total of 50 volumes.

Hale is considered to be the “Mother of Thanksgiving.” Her efforts to establish the holiday led President Lincoln to issue a proclamation in 1864 that set aside the last Thursday in November as a national “day of thanks.” She also spearheaded fundraising efforts to complete the Bunker Hill Monument and lobbied to make Mount Vernon a national shrine.

Yet, Hale was a woman of great contradictions. A powerful editor who wore nothing but black, she agreed to publish colorful fashion plates that she despised. Hale believed women were morally superior and advocated for women’s education, employment, and property rights, but she was also an outspoken anti- suffragette who did not want women to vote. She was anti-abolitionist, but also anti-slavery, because she believed it dehumanized the master as well as the slave.

Frank Furness 1839-1912 Section S, Lot 94, East Part

Frank Furness attended some of the finest public schools in Philadelphia but never attended a college or university. Instead, in 1857, he was apprenticed to architect John Fraser. Two years later he entered the New York studio of Richard Morris Hunt where he learned the eclectic medieval form of architecture that he would use throughout his career.

In 1861, he joined the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry, in which he served until the end of the Civil War, earning the Medal of Honor for voluntarily carrying a box of ammunition across an open space swept by the enemy’s fire at the Battle of Trevilian Station, VA in June 1864. He was the only American architect to receive this honor. Twenty-five years after fighting in the Battle of Gettysburg, he designed the monument to his regiment that stands on South Cavalry Field.

Over his 45-year career, Furness designed over 600 buildings, including banks, office buildings, churches, and synagogues. Toward the end of his life, however, his bold style fell out of fashion and many of his significant works were demolished. Among his most important surviving buildings are the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Fisher Fine Arts Library at Penn.

 The Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania , located in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, offers a magnificent garden display throughout the seasons. It is a place for learning, sharing, conservation, and research and has more than 12,000 labeled plants from the temperate regions of the world. John and Lydia Morris started collecting plants when they moved here in 1887 and were inspired by Victorian landscape design trends of that time. Today the Arboretum is a beautiful place to enjoy nature, walk with friends and family, take a class, or volunteer.

 The Woodlands ’ 54-acre undulating landscape is at once a one-of-a-kind 18th-century English pleasure garden, 19th-century rural cemetery, and a modern green oasis for its neighbors in bustling West Philadelphia. The cemetery, still active today, is the burial site of some of Philadelphia’s greatest thinkers, civic and business leaders, artists and problem solvers whose fascinating life stories inspire us to reflect upon how we can address the issues of our time. Creative place-based programming and partnerships, such as the Grave Gardeners volunteer program, have brought new life to the cemetery in recent years.

With over 30,000 people buried at The Woodlands since 1845, the cemetery has many stories to tell. Two of our favorites are the stories of the Abolitionist Mary Grew, and the Harlem Renaissance performer, Leontyne Watts.

Mary Grew (1813-1896), Section C, Lot #559

Born and educated in Hartford, Connecticut, Grew came to Philadelphia in 1834. An ardent abolitionist, she worked with Lucretia Mott in the Female Anti-Slavery Society. As a delegate to the World's Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840, Grew was excused from the floor for demanding to speak. Grew dedicated herself to the pursuit of women's rights, defying societal norms and her father's wishes. She was President of the Pennsylvania Woman Suffrage Association, and eventually became a Unitarian preacher. John Greenleaf Whittier commemorated her achievements in one of his poems, with the line: "The way to make the world anew is just to grow - a Mary Grew!"

You can learn more about Grew’s important contributions to both the Abolitionist movement and the fight for women’s right to vote here:  https://arcg.is/0iSSir 

Leontyne Watts (1919-2018), Section F, Lot #50

Many people are familiar with the Harlem Renaissance, the vibrant period of Black arts and culture coursing through the streets of Harlem, NY in the mid 20th century. It may surprise you to learn however, that a prominent member was born and raised right here in West Philadelphia, and was buried here at The Woodlands Cemetery in 2019. Leontyne Watts was born in Philadelphia on April 29, 1919. She was educated as a young child by her mother, and then went on to graduate from West Philadelphia High School and later Strayor Business College and the Philadelphia Settlement House.

Leontyne followed her musical dreams to New York City in 1944, entered the theater world and joined the ongoing Harlem Renaissance movement. Leontyne performed in Off Broadway shows, posed professionally at the Arts Students’ League, and went on a West Coast tour as a singer and dancer. She was married for 15 years to a fellow performer and visual artist, and after their divorce, took the opportunity to create a one-woman show and tour through Europe. A gifted linguist in addition to being a talented musician, she successfully took her performance through France, Belgium, Switzerland and Lebanon.

When she returned to the US she purchased a home in St. Albans, NY and joined the robust artistic community there. She continued touring in shows around the US, wrote music and poetry, taught children’s choir, and sang with a group known as Voices Incorporated. Voices Incorporated was initially a fundraising program for the NAACP, and you can  listen to some of their music here .

Leontyne Watts contributed to her community her entire life. We are honored to be able to share her story with the West Philadelphia and Woodlands community. You can visit her gravesite in Section K which is easily identifiable by the beautiful memorial there featuring her portrait. 

You can learn more about Leontyne Watts and visit her gravesite here:  https://arcg.is/1m8DDi