sweet auburn | 2025 volume I
UNLOCKING WINTHROP’ S TOMB:
Investigating one of the many connections Massachusetts Historical Society has with Mount Auburn Cemetery
By Meg L. Winslow, Senior Curator of Historical Collections & Archives
n a beautiful October morning when the Cemetery
O was colored in autumnal reds and golds, I met up with a group of colleagues and friends from the
Massachusetts Historical Society in Asa Gray Garden. Our plan was to open a tomb on Lawn Avenue with one of the treasures from their collections, the“ Key to the Winthrop Family Tomb at Mount Auburn,” and record a podcast for the 4th season of the MHS podcast series“ Object of History.”
As the podcast was being recorded, MHS Director of Research Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai, Chief Historian Peter Drummey, Associate Reference Librarian for Rights and Reproductions Hannah Elder( who had suggested that day’ s podcast), and others gathered around the tomb to share what we all knew about the histories of the Winthrop family and their tomb on Lawn Avenue.
Commissioned by Boston politician Robert C. Winthrop( 1809-1894), the impressive tomb was designed in 1887 by George Snell of Snell & Gregorson, Architects, of Boston, built into a sloping hillside with a facade of pink Hallowell granite and a large front door made of bronze. The door is unusual in that it has two doorknobs and requires two large, heavy keys to be opened: one from the Winthrop family( today’ s“ object of history” in the MHS collections), and one belonging to the Cemetery.
We were filled with anticipation when Mount Auburn’ s Preservation Manager Greg Ghazil stepped forward and invited MHS Librarian Hannah Elder to insert the MHS key while he simultaneously turned the Cemetery key. She cradled the key, the star of today’ s podcast, in her hand, and shared how it was carefully tagged and identified as a gift to the Society from Robert C. Winthrop’ s granddaughter Clara Bowdoin Winthrop( 1876 – 1969), the other key being“ at the Superintendent’ s Office.”
Unlocking the tomb with this hefty historic key was a powerful reminder for all of us who were there that October morning of the importance of our work to collect, preserve, and communicate our shared histories through tangible objects and artifacts that make the past come alive. To listen to the podcast, please scan the QR code or visit the MHS website.
Top: The Massachusetts Historical Society and Friends visit the Robert C. Winthrop Tomb, October 30, 2024. Photo by Meg Winslow Above, left: The two keys to the Winthrop Tomb. Photo by Meghan Marshall. Above, right: Greg Ghazil and Hannah Elder inserting the tomb keys. Photo by Meghan Marshall Bottom: MHS Chief Historian Peter Drummey, Mount Auburn’ s Senior Curator of Historical Collections Meg L. Winslow, and Preservation Manager Greg Ghazil celebrate a successful opening of the tomb, October 30, 2024.
MHS also visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner tomb alongside Natalie Dykstra, author of Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner, for a deep dive into the life of that prolific patron of the arts. Listen on the MHS website.
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