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impulsereader) wrote2012-03-31 05:20 pm
impulsereader) wrote2012-03-31 05:20 pm
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A Walk Through Graceland Cemetery - October 2011 - Part 3
Almost all pictures were taken by my Kurt Russell. All quoted text comes from A Walk Through Graceland Cemetery: A Chicago Architecture Foundation Walking Tour by Barbara Lanctot. Any errors or typos are mine alone.
“Return to the Wacker monument and then follow the curve of the road to Edith McCormick’s grave. On the way, notice the Holmes mausoleum. With its strong vertical lines and geometric patterns, it’s a good example of the Art Deco style. Art Deco took its name from the 1925 Exposition International des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, where it was first exhibited.”
On the way we also saw:
17. Edith Rockefeller McCormick 1872-1932
“Edith was the daughter of John D. Rockefeller and the daughter-in-law of Cyrus McCormick. One would not know from this modest grave that her wealth had once been estimated at between $50 million and $100 million. However, when she died in 1932, the undertaker had to present a claim to collect his money for the expensive casket. Edith had owned a million dollars’ worth of jewels, had supported the opera generously and had been the successor to Bertha Palmer as the queen of Chicago society. She died virtually penniless as a result of the Depression, lavish spending and heavy investments in unsound real estate projects.
Her funeral services were held in her mansion on Lake Shore Drive while thousands jammed the streets outside to see the funeral procession. Her casket was placed in an underground vault at Graceland alongside the coffins of two of her children.”
Um, I think we fell down on the job here a little. I don’t think we got a picture of this ‘modest grave’. Here’s what we were taking pictures of instead:
Ahem. Back to your previously scheduled tour...
18. Daniel Burnham 1846-1912
“In his [Burnham’s] famed Chicago Plan of 1909, he created one of the most comprehensive guides to city development. “Make no little plans,” was his dictum. “They have no magic to stir men’s blood...”
As part of his plan, Burnham proposed that the city’s lakefront be preserved for the enjoyment and recreational use of its citizens. The park system that lines the lake today is a result of his vision. Thus, it seems particularly fitting that his final resting place be on this pleasant, wooded isle in the lake at Graceland.”
19. Ludwig Wolff 1836-1911
“This bunker of a tomb, three-quarters below ground, belongs to a man who manufactured all kinds of copper and brass work, including plumbing supplies and equipment for brewers, distillers and candy-makers.
Wolff was a coppersmith’s apprentice in his native Germany. He and his family came to this country in 1854. Cholera broke out on the boat during their voyage over and killed hundreds of passengers. Shortly after arriving, Wolff’s parents and three of his brothers also died. He was left with the care of four younger children.”
20. Getty Tomb 1890
“In this place of beautiful and striking monuments, here stands the finest of them all - the Getty tomb. Lumber merchant Henry Harrison Getty commissioned Sullivan to design this tomb when Getty’s wife, Carrie Eliza, died. Getty, a partner of Martin Ryerson, knew the work Sullivan had done for Ryerson - the Loop office buildings as well as the pyramid mausoleum. Getty himself died in 1919 and is buried here, as is the couple’s only child, Alice, who died in 1946.”
“The bronze gate and the door behind it, gone green with time, are masterpieces. The star-like design of the walls is here lavishly interlaced with geometric and floral forms. A full-size plaster cast of the doorway was exhibited in the Paris Exposition of 1900 and earned Sullivan an award. Notice how Sullivan worked Getty’s initials into a medallion in the windows.”
phew. Gorgeous, just gorgeous.
To continue on please continue on to the next journal entry.
“Return to the Wacker monument and then follow the curve of the road to Edith McCormick’s grave. On the way, notice the Holmes mausoleum. With its strong vertical lines and geometric patterns, it’s a good example of the Art Deco style. Art Deco took its name from the 1925 Exposition International des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, where it was first exhibited.”
On the way we also saw:
17. Edith Rockefeller McCormick 1872-1932
“Edith was the daughter of John D. Rockefeller and the daughter-in-law of Cyrus McCormick. One would not know from this modest grave that her wealth had once been estimated at between $50 million and $100 million. However, when she died in 1932, the undertaker had to present a claim to collect his money for the expensive casket. Edith had owned a million dollars’ worth of jewels, had supported the opera generously and had been the successor to Bertha Palmer as the queen of Chicago society. She died virtually penniless as a result of the Depression, lavish spending and heavy investments in unsound real estate projects.
Her funeral services were held in her mansion on Lake Shore Drive while thousands jammed the streets outside to see the funeral procession. Her casket was placed in an underground vault at Graceland alongside the coffins of two of her children.”
Um, I think we fell down on the job here a little. I don’t think we got a picture of this ‘modest grave’. Here’s what we were taking pictures of instead:
Ahem. Back to your previously scheduled tour...
18. Daniel Burnham 1846-1912
“In his [Burnham’s] famed Chicago Plan of 1909, he created one of the most comprehensive guides to city development. “Make no little plans,” was his dictum. “They have no magic to stir men’s blood...”
As part of his plan, Burnham proposed that the city’s lakefront be preserved for the enjoyment and recreational use of its citizens. The park system that lines the lake today is a result of his vision. Thus, it seems particularly fitting that his final resting place be on this pleasant, wooded isle in the lake at Graceland.”
19. Ludwig Wolff 1836-1911
“This bunker of a tomb, three-quarters below ground, belongs to a man who manufactured all kinds of copper and brass work, including plumbing supplies and equipment for brewers, distillers and candy-makers.
Wolff was a coppersmith’s apprentice in his native Germany. He and his family came to this country in 1854. Cholera broke out on the boat during their voyage over and killed hundreds of passengers. Shortly after arriving, Wolff’s parents and three of his brothers also died. He was left with the care of four younger children.”
20. Getty Tomb 1890
“In this place of beautiful and striking monuments, here stands the finest of them all - the Getty tomb. Lumber merchant Henry Harrison Getty commissioned Sullivan to design this tomb when Getty’s wife, Carrie Eliza, died. Getty, a partner of Martin Ryerson, knew the work Sullivan had done for Ryerson - the Loop office buildings as well as the pyramid mausoleum. Getty himself died in 1919 and is buried here, as is the couple’s only child, Alice, who died in 1946.”
“The bronze gate and the door behind it, gone green with time, are masterpieces. The star-like design of the walls is here lavishly interlaced with geometric and floral forms. A full-size plaster cast of the doorway was exhibited in the Paris Exposition of 1900 and earned Sullivan an award. Notice how Sullivan worked Getty’s initials into a medallion in the windows.”
phew. Gorgeous, just gorgeous.
To continue on please continue on to the next journal entry.