Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn The Art of Memory: Monuments Through Time | Page 15

Preserving Mount Auburn
Several marble conservation
projects like the Fay Lot
on Central Avenue have
been supported by generous
individual donors in recent
years.
19th Century Marble Monuments
by Gus Fraser, Director of Preservation & Facilities
White marble monuments dominate the landscape
to slow this deterioration. Filling open joints and cracks in
of the historic core of the Cemetery.
the stone helps shed water and prevent it from
Beautifully carved and sculpted, the
penetrating deeper into the stone. Cutting
monuments are evocative of, and inspired
back encroaching plants speeds drying of
by, classical monuments of ancient Rome
the monument while meticulous washing
and Greece. These associations, along
to remove potentially harmful biological
with the fine detail achievable in its
growth also returns the monument, for a time,
uniform and relatively soft surface, made
closer to its original brilliant white. Finally,
marble the predominant choice for
when appropriate, a consolidant specifically
memorials during the Cemtery’s first
suited to the type of marble being preserved
half century. Monument quality marble
can be applied to strengthen the stone surface
was imported from Italy and increasingly
and protect from the affects of acid rain.
available from quarries in New England,
Several marble conservation projects
and a thriving monument industry grew
generously supported by individual donations
to satisfy the demand.
as well as grants have been completed in
Challenges intrinsic to the climate of
recent years. Examples include the Mary
Massachusetts, however, have hastened the
Walker monument on Kalmia Path, a stop
Fay Monument with scaffolding
deterioration of many marble monuments
on our African American Heritage Trail, and
during conservation last summer.
at the Cemetery. Loss of detail due to the
the Hygeia statue on Lily Path, commissioned
slow erosion of the stone’s surface resulting
by Dr. Harriot Kezia Hunt and sculpted
from the acidity of the rainfall and the frequent wetting
by 19th century sculptor Edmonia Lewis. With additional
and drying, and wintertime freeze/thaw cycles. In recent
funding we can preserve the great variety of carving in
years the Cemetery’s preservation staff has worked with
marble that contributes to the rich tapestry of our historical
professional conservators to determine appropriate treatments
landscape.
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