Online Memorial Pages

May 2, 2018

Mount Auburn’s “community of the dead” now totals more than 100,000 people. Among those buried here are some of the men and women who have shaped our local, regional, and national identity: activists, authors, designers, inventors, scientists, and philosophers. Also buried here, in even greater numbers, are those important in our own lives: mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, daughters and sons, mentors and friends. With a new feature on our website, Mount Auburn has enhanced its mission to commemorate the dead using an online tool that celebrates the lives and preserves the memories of all who have come to be buried at the Cemetery.

Mount Auburn’s new Online Memorial Pages collect the stories of those buried here, as shared by the family and friends who knew them best. With this program, a unique memorial page for each person buried at the Cemetery can now be accessed through the burial search feature on our website. Designed to be collaborative and interactive, each memorial page is meant to become a dedicated online space where family and friends can work together to celebrate the lives of their loved ones, using text, photographs, news clippings, and videos to tell the story of a person’s life. Over time, these memorial pages will become dynamic timelines charting the academic accomplishments, military service, career highlights, family milestones, and important life events that help to define the person being remembered.

Linked to our mobile app, these memorial pages will allow visitors “in the field” to learn more about the lives of those now buried at the Cemetery. And for those unable to make an actual visit to the Cemetery, the online memorial pages become a virtual place to visit, to reflect, and to remember.

Those buried at Mount Auburn have lived rich lives, and every individual has left behind fascinating stories worth being preserved. We hope that you will use this new online tool to celebrate the lives of your own loved ones.

Right:
Founding Mount Auburn Cemetery was only one of Dr. Jacob Bigelow’s many accomplishments. His memorial page also details his childhood in Sudbury, his education at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, his medical career, his accomplishments as a horticulturist, and his involvement in the founding of MIT. Learn more about his fascinating life >>>


What can be added to Memorial Pages?

The Memorial Pages accept text, images, audio, and video, making it possible to create a very dynamic personal story. Over the past year, the Friends has begun to populate the Memorial Pages for some of its notable residents.  Here are a just a few examples from this recent project. We hope these examples will inspire you to add information to the pages for your own loved ones!

The page for activist and author Julia Ward Howe (1819 – 1910) includes a contemporary audio recording of  “Battle Hymn of the Republic” as performed by the U.S. Army Band. Howe wrote the enduring patriotic melody in 1862 as the nation was gripped by Civil War. Image and Audio: Library of Congress.

The page for lawyer and civil rights activist Clement Garnett Morgan (1859-1929) includes a 1905 photograph of  Morgan with the other founding members of the Niagara Movement. The Niagara Movement is considered a precursor to the NAACP. Image: Library of Congress.

The page for design visionary R. Buckminster Fuller (1895 – 1983) includes a short segment from his 1975 lecture series “Everything I Know.” Fuller, who dreamed of ideal living environments for all humankind, discusses the people who influenced his life’s work in this clip.  Video: Internet Archive.


First Fridays: Family Digitization Days

Do you have photographs, letters, and small objects that help to tell the story of your loved ones? The first Friday of each month Mount Auburn will host sessions to help digitize these materials for adding to your loved one’s online memorial page. Learn more about our First Fridays event and register for an appointment >>>


Ready to get started?

Start by finding the family member or friend you would like to remember from our online records search. Select the correct individual from your search results and then click the prompt to “View & Submit Memories” to access his or her dedicated memorial page where you can follow the prompts to upload new information or to explore what has already been added.

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