Excellence and Innovation in
Preservation
Mount Auburn is committe d to applying the highest standards of care in
preserving the character defining features of our historic landscape as well as the records
and objects in our historical collections that help us to better understand and interpret the
Cemetery’s story.
During the past fiscal year:
• We preserved five Civil War era monuments and made landscape enhancements around
a sixth with funds from the Massachusetts Sesquicentennial Commission and private
donors to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.
• Individual gifts made possible the conservation of four additional monuments, one by
sculptor Alexander MacDonald and three others on the lot of notable merchant and
philanthropist Isaac Fay.
• Mount Auburn preservation staff hosted a day-long symposium for professional colleagues
enabled by a grant from the National Park Service’s National Center for Preservation
Technology and Training on the traditional use of lead in setting and pointing monuments,
mausolea, lot curbing, and iron fences.
• A major two-year grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS)
funded research, cataloguing, documentation, and digitization of images and archival
records for 30 of our most significant monuments. Additional grant funded work includes
conditions assessments of each monument in order to establish priorities and fundraise
for future conservation.
• Staff and volunteers answered more than 300 requests for genealogical information and
hosted 20 scholars for on-site research including topics such as 19th century American
sculpture, early bronze sculpture, Harvard Hill, Jewish burials, and environmental history.
• We hosted a day-long program on the Arts and Crafts Movement at Mount Auburn for
the 15th Annual Arts and Crafts Conference in Boston.
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