Pittsburgh’s Illustrious City of the Dead; Surprising Stories from The Homewood Cemetery, 1878-1920

April 25, 2022 - 10:00am to 11:30am

ONLINE WITH ZOOM

Pittsburgh’s Illustrious City of the Dead; Surprising Stories from The Homewood Cemetery, 1878-1920

Who are the most interesting people you’ve never heard of?  A survey of The Homewood Cemetery’s first fifty years will introduce you to many who fit that description.  Founded in 1878 as a non-profit, non-denominational, non-discriminatory burial ground, The Homewood Cemetery in Pittsburgh is now the final resting place of 80,000 people and counting.  This talk focuses on the years of 1878 to the end of World War I, when the cemetery established itself as a place of cultural importance and a modern American business concern.  Rounding out individual biographies, other topics will include the Cemetery’s landscape design, it’s role as an early provider of cremation services, it’s relationship with specific Pittsburgh groups, including Pittsburgh’s Black, Chinese, and Spiritualist communities.

 

Jennie Benford has been affiliated with The Homewood Cemetery for more than 30 years and currently volunteers ad the Cemetery’s Historian.  She served 10 years as the University Archivist for Carnegie Mellon University and Most recently she served The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh as Historic Researcher for their 125 Anniversary.

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