A bench in the Cemetery near Alice ’ s Fountain . People may honor a living person or commemorate a deceased individual by purchasing a plaque for a bench or tree .
20th century , the lawn cemetery movement again softened the presence of death by favoring flat markers flush with the ground so that the monuments themselves became less visible . Then , after the 1960s , the Washington , D . C ., Vietnam War and Vietnam Veterans ’ Memorial designed by Maya Lin “ revived the movement toward personal commemoration .” And today Mount Auburn remains a dynamic landscape , reflecting landscape design history and our attitudes toward death and commemoration .
Commemoration and the Increase of Cremation
In both the United States and much of western Europe , there is a growing trend toward choosing cremation . By 2010 , the National Funeral Directors Association projects that more than 30 % of deceased people will be cremated in Massachusetts and more than 38 % nationwide . By 2025 , more than 51 % of deceased people will be cremated nationwide . Here at Mount Auburn an average of 1,000 cremations take place each year . Cremation does allow a wider timeframe for a commemorative service or ceremony because it makes an immediate interment unnecessary . Families can hold an interment or memorial service soon after a death or wait until all family members and friends can be present or until warmer weather or some other meaningful time of the year .
Some people mistakenly believe that when a person is cremated , they need not make decisions about memorialization . This is simply not true . Cremated remains , popularly referred to as “ ashes ,” can still be memorialized . Some people
2 | Sweet Auburn keep a decedent ’ s cremated remains , but most inter them just as they would a body , placing them in the ground or in a niche in a structure built to hold cremated remains , a columbarium , like the one here in Story Chapel . Other families divide cremated remains so that portions can be interred or scattered in two or more locations .
Families may choose to scatter a decedent ’ s cremated remains at a favorite park , beach , or forest , but often come to regret this irrevocable act when they realize they have no private , protected space specifically designated to commemorate their loved one . A colleague recounts the story of a friend whose cremated remains were scattered , at his request , over a slope at the side of his house . Since then , the house has changed hands several times , so the man ’ s family no longer has access to the site . Another colleague stipulated that her cremated remains be scattered over a quiet garden in the quadrangle of the university she ’ d attended . Subsequently , the quadrangle and an adjoining administration building have undergone an extensive renovation , obliterating the garden . In both instances there is no way for survivors to retrieve these scattered remains , even if they could visit these sites .
Of course a person who wishes his or her remains to be scattered can still have a place of commemoration at a cemetery such as Mount Auburn , in the form of a cenotaph . Or a person can be commemorated by a plaque in his or her honor fixed to a bench or tree ( see photo above left ). Cremation is one of several end-of-life options , which also include traditional in-ground burial and entombment .
Diverse and Evolving Commemoration Traditions
Like the country beyond its gates , Mount Auburn is experiencing an increasing diversity in the ways that people commemorate . Since its founding in 1831 , the Cemetery has been open to all , interring African Americans