BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:1.0
BEGIN:VEVENT
CATEGORIES: SPECIAL OCCASION;TRAVEL;APPOINTMENT
STATUS:NEEDS ACTION
DTSTART:20091205T120000
DTEND:20091205T120000
SUMMARY:The Language of the Dead: Victorian Funerary Symbolism
DESCRIPTION;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:Event Name: The Language of the Dead: Victorian Funerary Symbolism=0D=0AEvent Url: http://www.phillyfunguide.com/event/detail/61879=0D=0AEvent Date Begin: 2009-12-05=0D=0AEvent Date End: 2009-12-05=0D=0A=0D=0AVictorian Philadelphians loved visual symbolism, and even their simplest grave markers are likely to be ornamented by ivy (for eternal life), lilies (for resurrection) or hour glasses (for brevity of life). Oftentimes, the symbolism is both lavish and individualized.  A civic reformer is memorialized with a bas-relief showing the Schuylkill Canal and the Philadelphia Water Works. A prison reformer is celebrated with a grand model of Moyamensing Prison. A shattered column, a cavalry officer's sword and a pair of spurs mark the resting place of one of the first soldiers to die at the Battle of Little Big Horn, infamously known as Custer's Last Stand. A mother who died in childbirth is compellingly depicted clasping her two dead babies. Nineteenth-century Philadelphians understood Laurel Hill not only as a cemetery, but also as a vast sculptural garden and retreat. Accordingly, they came by the thousands to read the symbolic messages that the dead had left for the living.  The Language of the Dead, a walking tour of Laurel Hill Cemetery, will be expertly guided by Dr. Michael Brooks, a professor at West Chester University, former board member of the Friends of Laurel Hill, and longtime docent for the cemetery.=0D=0A=0D=0AStart time:2 pm
CLASS:PRIVATE
PRIORITY:3
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