On November 11, 1919 “Armistice Day” was first observed to commemorate the first anniversary of the end of the first World War. In 1926, the United States Congress called for annual observance of the end of World War I and by 1938, November 11 became a national holiday. In 1954, “Armistice Day” officially evolved into [...]
In 2009, the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act made September 11 an official, federally recognized holiday. Since then, Americans across the country have been volunteering with various organizations for the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance. The purpose of the day is to serve as a way to honor those who passed [...]
If I’m being completely honest – which I’ve decided to be – Tombs and Tomes book club was started on a whim. My former colleague Margaret and I wanted to be a part of a book club, and after perusing programming and events at other cemeteries, I discovered that there was in fact precedent for [...]
In the middle of the cemetery, there is a vault like no other vault in a U.S. cemetery. This vault is called the “Public Vault,” and, unlike receiving vaults at other cemeteries, its construction was fully funded by Congress in the mid 1830s. The Public Vault was intended to be used as a temporary [...]
In March, I traveled to New York City to attend a short training course located at Woodlawn Cemetery. Having done an extensive amount of research on LGBTQ+ history for my Masters thesis, I made sure that visiting Stonewall Inn was a high priority during my stay in the city. I choose a table in the [...]
Death is making a comeback. Granted, it never left, but awareness and acceptance of death, mourning, and cemeteries is certainly on the rise. Congressional Cemetery staff are generally more aware of this since we’re in the “business” (said in an ominous voice), but all you have to do is attend one of our programs to [...]
This week’s blog post, which is about strange deaths, concludes the “Tragic Tales” blog series. The “strange deaths” category focuses on people who died in an unusual way. There are several people whose stories fit this category, but only four of them will be shared in this post. I hope that you will reflect on [...]
This week, four stories will be shared, all of which focus on people who, sadly, committed suicide. There were a wide range of known reasons why these people each committed suicide, including mental illness, heartbreak, work, and illness. We now have far more resources available for people struggling with suicidal thoughts and mental illness. If [...]
This week’s blog post focuses on murder-suicides. The story of a murder victim in a murder-suicide, and the stories of murderers in two failed murder-suicide attempts will be shared. Love, or infatuation, and jealousy seems to play a role in several of the stories that have been shared. In several instances, the victim has been a [...]
For the past two weeks, the stories that have been shared focused almost exclusively on murder victims. However, Congressional Cemetery is also the resting place to murderers. Since the line between murderers and murder-suicides isn't clearly defined, partially because many murderers end up committing suicide, murderers and murder-suicides have been grouped together. Please remember: [...]
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