Mrs . Goodale ’ s son , Peter Perkins Goodale , who died of cancer at age 46 , is buried at Mount Auburn , and her daughter , Kate Goodale , of Cambridge , also owns space here . When asked if her grandfather , the creator of so many nationally known images , would wish for a grander monument in lieu of his very plain one at Mount Auburn , Mrs . Goodale observes , “ He wouldn ’ t be impressed by a grand monument at all . He was a thoughtful , quiet man , very deep . He was not at all status conscious . He poked fun at the foibles of the rich all his life .”
R . Buckminster Fuller and Benjamin C . Thompson were men of far-reaching vision and imagination . Fuller designed ingenious structures for a more sustainable lifestyle accessible to everyone ; Thompson advocated design that was visually appealing and that encouraged human interaction .
Doing More with Less : R . Buckminster Fuller , Jr . ( 1895-1983 ), Visionary Architect
Lot # 2669 , Bellwort Path
Richard Buckminster Fuller , Jr . was born in Milton , Mass ., into a family with deep New England roots , whose ancestors came to the region during the 1630s . The feminist , transcendentalist , and author Margaret Fuller Ossoli ( Lot # 2250 , Pyrola Path ) was Fuller ’ s great-aunt .
Chafing under the confines of academic life , Fuller exited Harvard , forsaking a degree to work as a laborer , cashier , and export manager . Then , in 1917 , he served in the Navy during World War I , and , that same year , wed Anne Hewlett , beginning a marriage that would endure for 66 years .
In 1922 , Fuller was crushed by the death of his four-year-old daughter , Alexandra . On the verge of suicide , he had an epiphany that humanity could be improved through innovations in mankind ’ s environment . He vowed to make this his life ’ s work .
He began designing structures he later called “ dymaxion ,” a new term combining “ dynamic ,” “ maximum ,” and “ tension ”: his goal was always “ doing more with less .” Fuller coined the phrase “ spaceship earth ” and was an early advocate for the conservation of resources and protection of the environment . He was celebrated for his invention of the geodesic dome , a shape using a pattern of self-bracing triangles that provide maximum structural
8 | Sweet Auburn
Buckminster Fuller lecturing at Carbondale , IL , circa the late 1970s . Courtesy of the Estate of R . Buckminster Fuller advantage while utilizing the least material possible . By the 1960s he was lecturing to audiences around the world who saw him as “ the Leonardo da Vinci of our time .”
His monument at Mount Auburn is carved with the words “ Call me Trimtab ,” referring to the miniscule rudder attached to the larger rudder on ships and planes , which with minimum effort , can change a massive vessel ’ s course . Fuller believed the role of the inventor in society to be analogous to that of the trimtab , producing big change while expending little energy .
Fuller suffered a heart attack while keeping a vigil at the bedside of his comatose wife ; the couple died within 36 hours of each other .
Fuller ’ s daughter , Allegra Fuller Snyder , of Pacific Palisades , Calif ., is very attached to Mount Auburn :“ I think Mount Auburn was like an old family home for my father and his father . It held an important and tangible place in his sense of family . My father was a real student of history because he felt that in order to understand the future , one must understand the past .” For her 16th birthday , Buckminster Fuller gave his daughter a genealogical history of the Fuller family , tracing their roots back 30 generations to Sir John Fuller , born in England in 1042 . The Fullers ’ Cambridge roots are equally deep , with seven generations attending Harvard .
“ I visited Mount Auburn with my father on quite a few other occasions . I brought my daughter and first grandchild to Mount Auburn when she was about three ( she is now 19 ). I plan to have my ashes , and those of my husband , placed in the family lot . Mount Auburn remains an important center for all of us in the family , in our hearts and minds , even though we are dispersed throughout the country and the world .
“ My son , daughter , and I designed my father ’ s very humble gravestone but he specifically requested that the words ‘ Call Me Trimtab ’ be on any monument .”
A Powerful Imagination : Benjamin C . Thompson ( 1918-2002 ), Designer and Architect
Lot # 10762 , Halcyon Garden
Minnesota-born AIA Gold Medal architect Ben Thompson came to Cambridge in 1946 to work with Bauhaus Architect Walter Gropius as a founding partner of The Architects Collaborative . He was one of a handful of mid-20th century modernists who recognized the value of historic buildings in the face of the ravages of urban renewal . Beginning with his saving of Boylston