On this Friday, the students went to Brooklyn’s Greenwood cemetery to visit the graves of some of New York City’s famous, once-living people. To fuel up before the long walk across the cemetery’s expansive terrain, we stopped by a well-known taco truck that is only a few blocks from Greenwood’s massive entrance gate. The immensity of the architecture began to have its effect on the students as soon as we arrived. Following the trails around this type of outdoor museum, the students discovered curious histories attached to some outstanding tombstones. There were Egyptian styled pyramids that contained wealthy citizens of the city’s past. Some of these even buried their pet dogs alongside them. We reached the top of a hill which is the highest elevated point in Brooklyn and which was also the location of an important battle early on in the American Revolutionary War. We visited the graves of the great composer Leonard Bernstein and the imposing monument of Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing machine. The visit was a great way for students to learn about their own cultural traditions around mourning and funerals while seeing some unbelievable pieces of personal architecture.
