An (Un)common Inheritance: The Beauty & Wonder of Mount Auburn Cemetery’s Ecosystem

“…It is the duty of the living thus to provide for the dead. It is not a mere office of pious regard for others; but it comes home to our own bosoms, as those who are soon to enter upon the common inheritance.” ~Joseph Story, Mount Auburn Cemetery Consecration address, 1831

For nearly two hundred years, Mount Auburn Cemetery has been a cradle of invariable death and vibrant life. A thoughtfully humanized ecosystem, the landscape is sculpted and cared for by staff and volunteers who preserve the Cemetery’s natural wonders for both the living and the dead.

An (Un)common Inheritance is the story of a place where little brown bats and yellow-spotted salamanders roam on wet spring nights, where busy pollinators buzz between the flowers and toads sing at the edges of the ponds, where Horticulture staff tend to thousands of trees and plants, and where volunteers study the land as it slips through the seasons.

Join Mount Auburn Artist-in-Residence Billy Hickey as he takes you on a photographic journey through the beauty and wonder of life at the Cemetery.

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BILLY HICKEY is a nature photographer from Massachusetts. In his personal work Billy makes stories about the intersections of the natural and human worlds covering topics such as falconry, light pollution, fireflies, and goats. Billy’s passion is learning about nature and sharing its wonders through photography with the hope to educate and inspire. In 2020 he graduated from the International Center of Photography and his project “How We Were” won first place in Lensculture’s Black and White Photography Awards. Billy’s work has been featured in the Eastern Mass. Hawkwatch’s Newsletter, Buzzfeed News, and the New York Times. (www.billyhickeyphoto.com)

Tuesday, March 19 at 5:30-6:30pm