Observing the Memorial Arts and History in Old Cemeteries

Often when I visit an unfamiliar community for work or vacation, I will pause during my stay to visit the local cemetery.  These old burial grounds are representative of the collective history of a place, and they provide fascinating insight into era and geographically specific cultural norms, artistic values, ethnic influences, and community history.

A walk through these quiet places can be valuable for research or  enjoyable strolling as one observes these surviving relics from an earlier generations.  Depending on the pace of change in a town, the memorials are often some of the last tangible links to the past.

In New England, a region with plenty of fascinating graveyards, the central Vermont region has some particularly notable places.  In Montpelier the spacious park-like setting of Green Mount Cemetery with its many shade trees and ornamental shrubs, has many memorials to catch one’s gaze.    Nearby in Barre, the “granite capital of the world,” is the Hope Cemetery.  It has to be one of the most remarkable for there are many finely sculptured memorials, a testimony to the areas skilled stone cutters and artisans.

Here are a few photos I snapped while we vacationed in the area a few years ago.

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The park setting of Green Mount Cemetery in Montpelier.
In Barre's Hope Cemetery -- Eli Corti. Elia Corti. He was a gifted Italian carver. This life size memorial was carefully carved by his brother William Corti and his brother-in-law John Comi. At the age of thirty-four years he was shot in the Socialist building, following an argument between the socialists and anarchists.
In Barre’s Hope Cemetery the lie size memorial for Eli Corti. He was a gifted Italian carver. At the age of thirty-four years he was shot in the Socialist building, following an argument between the socialists and anarchists.
In Hope Cemetery, Barre, VT. The memorial says Donati. The symbolism is interesting here. The man is smoking a cigarette and in the fashion of something like a pipe dream a woman's hear is positioned in the smoke.
In Hope Cemetery, Barre, VT. The memorial says Donati. The symbolism is interesting here. The man is smoking a cigarette and in the fashion of something like a pipe dream a woman’s head appears in the smoke.
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In Montpelier’s Green Mount Cemetery. — a monument for Raymond H. Quero, 1929 – 1995. It reads: “Ray the cop: in service to others: Montpelier City Patrolman, diary crème operator, 1st Vermont State House, Security Officer, 1972 – 1995:

 

 

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