New exhibit showcases cemetery
The Library Company is giving Laurel Hill Cemetery its due in a new exhibit, "Building a City of the Dead: The Creation and Expansion of Philadelphia's Laurel Hill Cemetery." But the exhibit isn't about Laurel Hill's 70,000 (deceased) inhabitants. Instead, it will focus on the historic cemetery's architecture and history.
The Library Company is giving Laurel Hill Cemetery its due in a new exhibit, "Building a City of the Dead: The Creation and Expansion of Philadelphia's Laurel Hill Cemetery." But the exhibit isn't about Laurel Hill's 70,000 (deceased) inhabitants. Instead, it will focus on the historic cemetery's architecture and history.
Laurel Hill was a "rural" cemetery, Philadelphia's first. Tied to the city economically (where do you think those 70,000 people came from?), it was located far away from the hustle and bustle of city life along the banks of the Schuylkill River near what's now the East Falls section. The main entrance is on Ridge Avenue.
"You ask many Philadelphians if they've been there and they say 'No, but I've heard of it,' " said Aaron Wunsch, a lecturer in arhictectural history at the University of Pennsylvania and a guest curator for the Library Company. Wunsch has been interested in Laurel Hill since he attended Haverford College. He wrote the nomination that made the cemetery a historic landmark.
Like Wunsch, the Library Company has a history with Laurel Hill: John Jay Smith, a leading founder of Laurel Hill, was the librarian at the museum for 30 years.
The Library Company, 1314 Locust St., through April 29, 9 a.m.-4:45 p.m. Monday-Friday, free, 215-546-3181, librarycompany.org.