When visiting a cemetery, there are a number of basic rules you should keep in mind.  If you’re choosing to visit a gravesite, there are some critical rules of etiquette to understand to make the experience easier.  We want to ensure you and your fellow visitors enjoy a courteous, peaceful experience.  Let’s look at five essential …
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Woodlawn’s Arboretum Collection Founded in 1863, Woodlawn Cemetery is a forested oasis located in the sprawling metropolis of New York City. For more than 150 years, Woodlawn’s Arboretum has provided New York City families a beautiful place to honor their loved ones. Visiting this 400-acre burial ground lets you get up close to over 6,300 …
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From Facebook to blogs to online forums, social media and technology provide ample opportunities for connecting with others. When you’re grieving the death of a loved one, digital platforms can provide comfort and solace to help you cope with an intense loss. At Woodlawn Cemetery, our compassionate staff members know how difficult and complex grief …
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LGBT history is American history. NYC is one of the world’s great LGBT history cities and Woodlawn Cemetery is one of NYC’s richest LGBT history sites. We are a National Historic Landmark where visitors can learn about the gay community’s impactful history and notable figures. Woodlawn is listed as one of the many spots to …
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IHS is a monogram symbol-a motif of multiple letters interwoven in a decorative design.  Monograms are graphic symbols that are used as a sign of identity.  IHS stands for the first three letters-iota-eta-sigma-of the name Jesus in Greek.  A Christogram-a combination of letters (a monogram) that forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ-IHS …
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Lambs are sheep less than one year old.  The lamb is a symbol of the fragility of life in many cultures.  Christians, in particular, have adopted the lamb as a religious icon. It is undeniable that the lamb is one of the most prominent symbols of Christianity.  A sacrificial animal, the lamb represents Jesus Christ as …
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An urn is a vessel with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal.   A proud symbol of elegant beauty that holds our earthly remains, the urn is a symbol of death.  It is believed by many cultures that the body is turned into dust as the spirit floats away towards the …
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An evergreen tree of the Mediterranean region valued for its aromatic leaves, the laurel is a type of wreath.  Worn on the head as a symbol of triumph in Ancient Rome, the symbol of the laurel wreath actually comes from Greek mythology-the Romans, who admired Greek culture, adopted this famous symbol.  The national divinity of …
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Regarded as sacred in Ancient Egypt, the often brilliantly colored scarab is a stout-bodied dung beetle of the Mediterranean area.  The insect with a hard shell-like back held great significance to Ancient Egyptians as they believed that the beetle’s dung ball was representative of the world-the dung beetle kept the world forever revolving like its ball …
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A common motif in Greek art, the meander or Greek key is a decorative device constructed from a continuous line that takes repeated right-angled turns.  The meander was among the most important symbols in Ancient Greece.  For the people of Ancient Greece, the meandros (meander) symbolized eternity and infinite love. The famous pattern is named after the 250-mile-long …
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