Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn Mount Auburn as a Mosaic of American Culture | Page 18

People and Happenings
Margaret Fuller Bicentennial
Recognized at Mount Auburn
Century, a work largely inspired by the idea that women
could hold opinions on matters beyond the domestic
sphere, in 1845.
Margaret Fuller, one of the 19th ce ntury’s
Not long after that, she found herself in Europe as the
most significant figures, was born on May 23, 1810, in
New York Tribune’s foreign correspondent. In 1847, while
Cambridgeport, Mass., and made her mark on American
covering the Revolution in Rome, she met Marquis Gio-
culture as an author, journalist, editor, literary critic, feminist,
vanni Angelo Ossoli, who became her husband and with
and Transcendentalist. This year, the 200th anniversary of
whom she had a son, Angelo Phillip. As the Revolution was
her birth, the Friends celebrates
crushed, she and Ossoli planned to return
her life and accomplishments.
to the United States. On May 17, 1850,
they sailed from Livorno on the Elizabeth.
Brilliant and well-educated,
Just outside New York harbor, the ship hit a
Fuller became a well-respected
sandbar and sank, cutting Fuller’s life tragically
and active member of the Tran-
short. The memorial to Fuller, her husband,
scendentalist community during
and son, erected in the Fuller family lot on
the 1830s. In 1839 she combined
Pyrola Path, became a place of pilgrimage
her feminist principles with the
in the mid-19th century and continues to
spirit of Transcendentalism to es-
attract visitors today.
tablish a series of “Conversations,”
Historic view of Margaret Fuller Ossoli’s
or seminars for women, providing
To learn more about Fuller and her lasting
cenotaph, circa 1900.
intellectual stimulation for like-
legacy, visit the Margaret Fuller Bicentennial
minded women and social reformers including Mrs. Ralph
website, www.margaretfuller.org, for a complete list of
Waldo Emerson, Lydia Maria Child, Maria White Lowell,
upcoming programs. And, join us here at the Cemetery in
and Elizabeth and Sophia Peabody among others. Fuller
July, on the anniversary of her death, for a special wreath-
published her feminist masterpiece Women in the Nineteenth
laying ceremony at Fuller’s memorial.
Volunteer Profile: Jennifer
LoSciuto
Sharing Her Love of History
Last August, Jennifer LoSciuto was only planning
a simple day trip to Mount Auburn when she discovered the
opportunity she’d been looking for. “I had a friend visiting from
out of town and wanted to bring her for a visit. I decided
to look on the website to see what tours were happening
and I noticed the listing for the Docent Training class. It was
the last week to register for the training so I immediately
emailed the Friends to sign up!”
Jennifer, a native of Medford, Mass., has had a long interest
in the Civil War, which was further fueled during her stud-
ies as a History major at UMass Boston. Although Jennifer
took a job with a fashion design company upon graduation
and remained there for 15 years, she still harbored a passion
for history that led her on pilgrimages to Mount Auburn
where the memorial of Col. Robert Gould Shaw of the
Massachusetts 54th Regiment stands in his family lot. This
past summer she decided it was time to once again focus her
attentions on something she truly loves.
Since completing the Docent Training class—which met
one day per week for five weeks—Jennifer has become a part
of our growing group of dedicated volunteers. She regularly
takes shifts at our Visitors Center, answering questions, renting
audio tours, selling publications, and most importantly, shar-
ing her own love of both Mount Auburn and history with
16 | Sweet Auburn
others. She also spends
time researching the Cem-
etery’s ties to the Civil
War, which will be quite
valuable as we prepare to
commemorate the War’s
150th anniversary.
If volunteering as a
Jennifer LoSciuto
docent were not enough,
Jennifer also assists our Preservation & Facilities Department
in their efforts to capture inscriptions on our oldest, most
weathered monuments. After spending the fall outdoors
deciphering the fading inscriptions in the field, she has spent
the winter entering them into a database. Through her work
on this project, Jennifer has discovered a few more Civil War
veterans previously unknown to us.
“I am so happy being at Mount Auburn. It’s a dream come
true... I’m now getting to do what I’ve always wanted to do.”
As of January 2010 Mount Auburn has 50 active volunteers
generously giving their time. These volunteers work in de-
partments throughout the Cemetery including Education &
Visitor Services, Preservation, Historical Collections, and the
Greenhouse.