In the fall of 2002, a group of Concord residents formed The Friends of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery with the mission to provide leadership to beautify, enhance, and advance the Cemetery, one of Concord’s treasures.
As a 501©(3) charitable entity with a 13-member volunteer Board of Directors and guided with by-laws, the organization continues to strive for the accomplishment of projects in the Cemetery, designated on the Register of Historic Places.
In collaboration with the Town Cemetery Committee and the Cemetery Administration, the organization, among other efforts, designed and funded Cemetery signage, professional labeling of Cemetery trees that are indigenous to Massachusetts, a permanent commemoration in a public ceremony honoring the founding of Concord’s Female Anti-Slavery Society, and supporting the restoration or replication of fences surrounding historically significant family plots.
Annually, Board Directors volunteer to clean historic grave markers.
For eighteen years and continuing, the Board has hosted an annual Breakfast Event which affords the opportunity for supporters to hear aspects of the Cemetery presented by recognized scholars and other experts. Topics attracting capacity audiences have included Concord’s Cemeteries and the Stories They Tell and Daniel Chester French: American Sculptor, a presentation enhanced by the Concord premiere of an original film depicting the story of French’s masterpieces—the seated Lincoln in Washington’s Lincoln Memorial, the Concord Minuteman Statue at the Old North Bridge, the monument “Mourning Victory” honoring the Town’s three Melvin brothers who died in the Civil War, and a designated Concord250 Event: Rediscovering our Revolutionary War Veterans.
In celebration of its 20th anniversary, The Friends prepared a multi-page mailing to all local homes and businesses relating the story of the organization, its progress in addressing its mission, and deservedly saluting supporters.
The Friends designed and funded a permanent granite bench dedicated to Concord’s Gold Star Families in a Veterans Garden, also maintained by Board members.
In addition, two permanent giftings were designed, funded, and donated to the Cemetery: a set of solid metal bollards in front of “Mourning Victory,” appropriately demarcating the monument, and the lettering “Sleepy Hollow,” historically replicating in hand-fashioned design the original signage once part of the Prichard Gate, as seen in the logo of The Friends. The lettering is positioned on the entrance gates to The Knoll section of the Cemetery in further identification and remembrance.
None of what is carried out can be realized without the unfaltering, committed support of donors who share the mission. For more information, including to contribute to The Friends, visit FriendsofSleepyHollow.org.
All photos courtesy of The Friends of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Inc.
This article made possible with the support of The Friends of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Inc.