The Stained Glass of Woodlawn Cemetery

Founded in 1863, Woodlawn Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in New York City and is a designated National Historic Landmark. The 400-acre site is home to the largest and finest collection of funerary art in the country, including more than 1,300 mausoleums, many designed during the Gilded Age by leading American architects. Of those mausoleums, some 1,100 are decorated with stained-glass windows.  The collection is one of the most comprehensive in America, representing 19th and 20th century stained glass by over a dozen recorded stained glass firms (both American and European), and countless by makers that are currently unidentified or unknown. Woodlawn’s collection is enormous, untouched and unique.

The original stained glass from various artists in diverse conditions creates the perfect setting for the most extensive stained glass survey ever undertaken in the United States. This presentation will discuss the survey, and our physical and historical findings to date. The information gained during this project will further enhance the culture and history of Woodlawn as well as the history of art and stained glass in America, historic preservation and conservation studies.