God Rock Radio #253 – Greenwood Cemetery/Memorial Day Special

In another entry in GRR’s series of programs on the City of New York , Jack “The Agnostic” Garcia takes an imaginary walking tour of Greenwood Cemetery. A historical landmark that is filled with trees , flowers, birds , sacred silence , amazing stone carvings , landscaping and architecture. With the arrival of the industrial revolution New York expands at a rapid rate, the population explodes , diseases run amok and the bodies start to pile up – turning Manhattan into a charnel house. Untouched by New Yorks real estate boom, the green hills of Brooklyn provide the answer and with the arrival of Fort Hamilton in 1831 and lots of government contracts, Brooklyn’s scattered farms and villages consolidate into a city of its own. A city with lots of sprawling space for the new and radical concept of a public , garden type Rural Cemetery. Jack chronicles the real story behind the construction and evolution of The Queen of American cemeteries.  A place that is not only the abode of the dead but a cultural institution for the living. A type of open air 19th Century musuem where people can walabout, contemplate and meditate. 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *