Haunted History Double Feature: Cemetery Symbols + Graves of Gotham
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Taught by Allison C. Meier and JR Pepper
Allison C. Meier is a writer specializing in contemporary visual arts and overlooked history who moonlights as a cemetery tour guide. She is the author of 'Grave' (2023) in Bloomsbury's Object Lessons series. Her bylines include stories in the New York Times, National Geographic, Hyperallergic, CityLab, Curbed, Wellcome Collection, and others. Find more about her here: allisoncmeier.com
JR Pepper is a lecturer, photographer and self described 'professional eccentric'. She holds both a BA and an MA in art history specializing in Surrealism and spirit photography. Her artwork has been seen in various gallery shows and publications including Haunted America: FAQ by Dave Thompson, Vice.com and Musee Magazine. She has spoken at Long Island Convention of Horror, New York Comic Con, Tokyo in Tulsa, The Morbid Anatomy Museum, The Odd Salon, The Dead Ladies Show, Lectures on Tap and is an adjunct art history professor at Brooklyn College. She currently works as digital imaging specialist at The Burns Archive and is a tour guide at Green-Wood Cemetery. Her book Buried Boston: America's Revolutionary Necropolis, documenting Boston's burying ground and cemeteries was released Halloween 2024 and she is currently working on her next publication on the cemeteries of New Orleans.
image credit: Bill Wadman
Location: Prospect Heights Brainery (190 Underhill Ave in Prospect Heights, BK)
Spend your evening at the Brooklyn Brainery for these back-to-back talks from two local scholars on the obscure and spooky, from strange tales of New York City tombs to the meaning behind cemetery symbolism.
Cemetery Symbols
Have you ever walked through a cemetery and wondered about the many symbols on the tombstones? Although the grim significance behind a skull or hourglass may be clear, others like gesturing hands, carefully chosen flowers, guardian animals, and secret society emblems are more arcane.
This class will explore the meaning behind the symbols commonly found in cemeteries, along with their history in mortuary art, highlighting symbols found in NYC and beyond, so that the next time you go for a stroll in the necropolis you can decipher their hidden meanings. It will also highlight how symbolism has been informed by the life around it and how it continues to change and develop to this day.
Beneath the busy streets and towering skyline of New York lies a forgotten world of mystery, eccentricity, and the macabre. Join JR Pepper as we uncover the city’s most unusual final resting places—graves hidden in plain sight, tombs with bizarre backstories, and memorials that defy explanation.
From a solitary tomb in the middle of a busy sidewalk to pet cemeteries, celebrity curiosities, and incredible mausoleums, we’ll explore the strange, poignant, and sometimes humorous tales of individuals who shaped—and continue to haunt—New York City.
