Announcing Mount Auburn ’ s African American Heritage Trail
Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery 580 Mount Auburn Street Cambridge , Massachusetts 02138-5517
www . mountauburn . org • 617-547-7105
NON-PROFIT ORG . U . S . POSTAGE PAID LEOMINSTER , MA PERMIT NO . 17
Upcoming Events
Join us for a program this winter . For a complete listing of our upcoming events , visit us online at www . mountauburn . org .
e Candle Lighting Service Thursday , December 18 , 2012 ,
This annual event provides the opportunity to remember loved ones no longer with us . During the service , you will have the opportunity to light a candle in honor of someone you wish to remember . Weather permitting , we will place the lighted candles in nearby Asa Gray Garden at the conclusion of the event .
Speakers this year will include : Reverend Stephen Kendrick , Senior Minister , First Church in Boston Swami Tyagananda , Hindu Chaplain , MIT and Harvard University
We will host a reception , and book signing with Richard Cheek for Mount Auburn : Beauty on the Edge of Eternity , in Bigelow Chapel immediately following the service .
e Longfellow Birthday Celebration February 23 , 2013 , 10:30 AM
Join us for this annual event in Story Chapel . Co-sponsored by the Longfellow House – Washington ’ s Headquarters National Historic Site and the Friends of Mount Auburn . Check our website for additional details as the event nears .
e Volunteer Docent Training Tuesday , March 26 ; Wednesday March 27 ; and Thursday , March 28
Would you like to be an ambassador of Mount Auburn Cemetery ? Consider becoming a docent ! This three-day training course will provide a solid overview of Mount Auburn ’ s many facets and prepare you for sharing these with the public . The course is free , but pre-registration is required and docents must attend all three sessions .
Peter Byus Monument by Jennifer Johnston
The memorial for Peter Byus ( Lot # 3752 , Magnolia Avenue ) briefly shares the life story of an escaped slave :
“ In memory of Peter Byus , born in Hampshire County , Virginia , a slave . At the age of about thirty six he fled to Boston for freedom where he resided for the last thirty years . He died the 27th of February 1867 . Aged 66 years . He was a sincere Christian , a true friend and an honest man .”
Announcing Mount Auburn ’ s African American Heritage Trail
Among those now buried at Mount Auburn are authors , journalists , jurists , lawyers , politicians , musicians , athletes , entrepreneurs , activists , and reformers that help to illustrate the African American experience in Boston and beyond during the 19th and 20th centuries . This February , the Friends of Mount Auburn will launch an interpretive trail to celebrate the lives and legacies of fourteen individuals significant in telling this story .
Included on the Heritage Trail are : Peter Byus ( 1801 (?) – 1867 ), whose monument and story are shared above . Kittie Knox ( 1875 – 1900 ), competitive cyclist and activist , known as the “ Rosa Parks of cycling ’; Benjamin Franklin Roberts ( 1814 – 1881 ), printer and activist whose 1840s suit against the Boston School System was the first court case to challenge the practice of segregation ; and Harriet Jacobs ( 1813 – 1897 ) freedom-seeker , abolitionist , and author of the historically significant slave narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl , written by Herself ( 1860 ).
The Heritage Trail with its printed guide , website exhibit , and mobile tour will launch on February 11th , in honor of Harriet Jacobs on her 200th birthday .
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