NEWS: New Book on Maple Grove Cemetery
IMAGES OF AMERICA: MAPLE GROVE CEMETERY
by Arcadia Publishing
Available November 27th, 2006
This is an exciting book on the history of the cemetery from its inception to the current events of today. It contains more than 200 photographs and interesting text that follows the 130 year history of the cemetery .
It is written by Nancy Cataldi, president of the Richmond Hill Historical Society and Maple Grove’s historian, and Carl Ballenas, Richmond Hill historian and school teacher. This is
the second book written by these authors for Arcadia’s Images Of America series. Their first one was on the history of Richmond Hill.
The book contains four chapters, the first being the “Creation of a Historic Cemetery” and covers the early history through antique photographs of the cemetery and copies of early manuscripts, maps and letters. Most of these photos are newly discovered and never seen before.
The second chapter is titled: “Memorials and Aesthetic Beauty” and showcases some of the lovely monuments and sections of the cemetery with beautiful photographs taken by Nancy Cataldi. It also describes the different types of monuments and the symbols used on them.
The third chapter introduces the interesting stories of the people buried there, some well known in the world, and others that have been forgotten. This chapter is titled: “The Remarkable Dash Between Life and Death”, and tells the stories of authors, musicians, missionaries, civil rights activists, artists and stories of everyday people. Included are stories about The Bluebird of Mulberry Bend, Songstress Lavern Baker, 111 year old former slave, Millie Tunnell,
movie director Irving Rapper and countless other stories.
The last chapter is titled : “Today’s Community Spirit ” and details the resurgence of the cemetery as the heart of the community and the events and growth of the cemetery today. Since the cemetery is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this chapter defines the hard work of the cemetery and its involvement in making a difference in the neighborhood through partnerships with local groups. It is a complete and informative book that shows how historically significant Maple Grove Cemetery is.