A Field Guide to Early New England Gravestones

Join the Bidwell House Museum on October 1 for the second lecture in a three-part series about gravestone making in Western Massachusetts in the 18th and 19th centuries.

In this talk, John Hanson will show you how to read and interpret early gravestones, including the iconography, the sources of the epitaphs, and what the integrated whole tells us about religious practices and the attitudes of early Berkshirites towards life, death, and the world to come. The talk will be illustrated with examples of stones in Monterey, Tyringham, Great Barrington, Sheffield, and New Marlboro. After the talk, Hanson will lead a tour of some of the most interesting stones in New Marlborough’s Old Center Cemetery.

John Hanson is a resident of Tyringham and Boston who has written and lectured extensively on the subject. His book, Reading the Gravestones of Old New England, was published in 2021 (McFarland).

This program will begin at the Museum with a talk of around 40 minutes in length, followed by a visit to the Old Center Cemetery in New Marlborough. You can register for just the talk (in-person or via Zoom) or the talk and walk together. Attendance for this program is limited to 15 in-person for the talk and walk and 25 in person for the talk, so pre-registration is required.