New Haven’s Grove Street Cemetery is the first chartered burial ground in the United States, incorporated in 1797. It is one of only 61 National Historic Landmarks in Connecticut, and one of nine in New Haven.
This one-hour tour (offered at 12:00pm and again at 1:30pm) led by Michael Morand will explore the cemetery, in order to uncover both lesser-known stories of local culture and share some of the more widely recognized stories, including U.S. founding father Roger Sherman; Ebenezer Bassett, first African-American ambassador from the U.S.; lexicographer Noah Webster; and art historian Sylvia Arden Boone. Participants will visit painters such as Nathaniel Jocelyn, writers such as Theodore Winthrop and William Grimes, philanthropists such as Mary Goodman, and teachers such as Vashti Duplex Creed and Benjamin Silliman. Most importantly, the tour will encourage visitors to explore the cemetery on their own to uncover and discover more stories from this extraordinary resource of cultural heritage, free and open to all every day of the year.