Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn A Modern Vision for an Historic Cemetery | Page 4

A Modern Vision
for an Historic Cemetery
By Bree D. Harvey, Vice President of Cemetery & Visitor Services
It has been nearly two centuries since Mount Auburn was opened
to the public as a place to bury the dead, console the bereaved,
and inspire the living. Remarkably, the vision that guided the
Cemetery’s founding and consequently shaped the way an entire
country thought about life and death continues to guide many
of Mount Auburn’s present-day goals and initiatives and the
fulfillment of its contemporary mission.
If there were one central theme to the history
of Mount Auburn, it would be change. Within our 175
acres, we can see how changing ideas about life, death,
and commemoration have gradually reshaped the use and
design of the Cemetery’s monuments and landscape.
Today, ideas about life and death are changing radically
and rapidly. Cremation continues to rise in popularity in
America (the national annual rate of cremation reached
50% in 2015 and is expected to top more than 70% by
2030). Public interest in natural or “green” burial continues
to grow. Families increasingly express interest in remem-
bering the lives of lost loved ones with meaningful and
personalized “celebrations of life” that seem far removed
from the somber funeral services of the past. And, with
networks of family and friends now stretching across the
globe, mourners are looking to technology to remember
the dead virtually when physical visits to the Cemetery are
not feasible. Mount Auburn is evolving its practices and
its business to meet the needs of its contemporary clients
while remaining true to the spirit that has guided the
Cemetery since its start.
…burying the dead…
People often ask, “How much longer will Mount Auburn
be able to sell burial space?” While we can’t offer a
definitive answer, we are confident that for at least several
decades to come the Cemetery will continue developing
new burial space that will provide a diversity of burial
options to accommodate our clients’ needs. Rather than
committing itself to a large-scale development of its last
few undeveloped acres, Mount Auburn’s current practice
sees the Cemetery fitting new “pocket” gardens for burial
2 | Sweet Auburn
and commemoration into our historic landscape. While
these projects require great sensitivity to be successfully
integrated into their surroundings, they also provide
exciting opportunities to revitalize and enhance some of
the most celebrated places within of our historic and iconic
landscape.
This summer, Mount Auburn begins a project to
renovate Hazel Path, a long-overlooked walkway con-
necting Consecration Dell and Washington Tower, into a
picturesque woodland path that includes burial space for
approximately 400 individuals. Designed specifically for the
burial of cremated remains, the path will provide perma-
nent memorialization on naturalistic boulders, granite steps,
or limestone obelisks. Driving our decision to embark on
this project is our recognition that increasing numbers
of cemetery clients are seeking burial space for cremated
remains; they favor locations that offer impressive views
of Mount Auburn’s iconic landscape; they are drawn to
locations that are unique in feel and intimate in scale; and
they remain interested in options that allow for permanent
memorialization, though many are open to sharing a
permanent memorial with other non-related individuals
buried nearby.
Beyond its transformation into a beautiful and unique
new area for burial and commemoration, the renovated
Hazel Path will significantly improve an area within the
heart of our historic core and provide additional habitat
for urban wildlife. Learn more about this project, slated for
completion in 2019, on pages 4–5.
…consoling the bereaved…
In the last decade, Mount Auburn has seen tremendous
growth in demand for its chapels as places to hold
personalized and meaningful celebrations of life. Looking
ahead, we anticipate growing interest in the use of our
chapels for a variety of private events. As America becomes
increasingly secular, families are seeking beautiful but
nonsectarian spaces to hold services that give meaning to
the lives of those being remembered while consoling the
living in ways they feel are most appropriate.