Understanding Early Gravestones and the Stories They Tell

New England’s burying grounds are often called outdoor museums — full of history, art, chronicles of religious beliefs, genealogy, sometimes tragedy and scandal — even humor.  This presentation by noted gravestone and cemetery scholar Laurel K. Gabel will introduce you to the symbolism and special language of gravestones and to the attitudes about death and memorialization that these historic artifacts reflect.  With a focus on early New England gravemarkers and their carvers, the Rural Cemetery Movement, fraternal and heraldic symbolism, and the historic and modern use of photography in mourning and memorialization, this well-illustrated program chronicles changing styles and attitudes from the 17th to the 21st centuries.