Sweet Auburn, Summer 2014

September 13, 2014

Sweet Auburn, Summer 2014

Mount Auburn: Environmental Leader and Innovator

Landscape improvements in recent years have enhanced both historic character and wildlife habitat value at the Cemetery. 

Inside this Issue…

President’s Corner

Feature Article: Better Than Yosemite? 

Graves in the Garden: Natural Burials at Mount Auburn

Wildlife Habitat Enhancements and the
Anthony J. & Mildred D. Ruggiero Memorial Trust

Photo Essay: Willow Pond Habitat Enhancements

Sustainable Landscape Management

People & Happenings 

Remembering Caroline Loughlin 

Did You Know? 

The 1831 Society 

Upcoming Events 

Bonus online content

Auburn Lake

1998_March_Auburn LakeAuburn Lake was created in the 1850s by the deepening of an already existing low-lying “boggy meadow” area to enhance the Cemetery’s landscape. During dry summers in the 1990s much of the lake had been reduced to exposed mud flats. Concerned about aesthetics of the landscape as well as the ecological health of the lake, Mount Auburn Cemetery concentrated on dredging Auburn Lake.

The Wildflower Meadow at Washington Tower

The wildflower meadow installed around Washington Tower in 2007 replaced a mowed lawn and improved the habitat for many species of grassland birds, butterflies, insects, and small mammals, as well as strengthening the historic character of the landscape.

Consecration Dell 

Restoration of woodlands around Consecration Dell utilized sustainable landscape practices to enhance the value of the Cemetery as wildlife habitat.

Sustainable Landscape Management at Mount Auburn Cemetery

The Cemetery’s use of environmentally sensitive landscape maintenance practices goes well beyond the ponds, meadows, and woodlands, our thorough recycling and re-use procedures have become a model for other organizations in the area and across the nation.

Remembering Caroline LoughlinCaroline Loughlin

Caroline Keller Loughlin (1940 – 2013) was naturally drawn to Mount Auburn where she volunteered in the Historical Collections Department for 13 years.  Much of her work entailed responding to genealogical research requests.  She also indexed, and read, all the annual reports, trustee minutes, newsletters, and historic volumes of correspondence dating back to the Cemetery’s founding. In addition to numerous other projects, Caroline also cataloged the Cemetery’s amazing photograph collection.

Passionate about the preservation of the archival records that illuminate Mount Auburn’s history and landscape, she actively supported efforts to preserve and make Mount Auburn’s primary documents available to the staff and public in order to deepen our understanding of the historical meaning and context of the Cemetery. Over the years, Caroline made generous annual contributions that resulted in the renovation of two vaults for storage of historic records; the digital capture of 65 volumes of historic Cemetery correspondence and countless founding documents. Additionally, Caroline made capital gifts for the new greenhouse and the new entrance to Story Chapel.  In addition to her work in the Historical Collections Department, Caroline was appointed trustee of the Friends of Mount Auburn in 2006 and trustee of Mount Auburn Cemetery in 2010.

Mikrokopter Flies over Sphinx2013_10_22_HexacopterVisit (1)

In October 2013, software developer Eben Gay flew the Mikrokopter Hexa-XL over Mount Auburn. The hexacopter, about 30-inches across with a Sony NEX-5R camera attached, was controlled by long-range radio and streamed video to special goggles.  The project began, oddly enough, in the Sudan. Dr. Timothy Kendall, Co-Director of the Qatar-Sudan Archaeological Project for Jebel Barkal, 2013_10_22_HexacopterVisit (6)has been reconstructing stone archaeological remnants on the Jebel pinnacle (www.jebelbarkal.org) and experimenting with new equipment to gather data. Recent software innovations have made it possible to create 3D models from photographs.  But where to test the drone before taking it all the way to Sudan? “We required a large object of material similar to the monuments at the Jebel—with space to fly,” says Kendall. “Mount Auburn Cemetery graciously allowed us to use the Sphinx.”  Read more3D Model Stages

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