Surveyor's Books, 1938-1939 | The Green-Wood Cemetery

By Katie Alleman and Meredith Giordan, Pratt School of Information Interns

Printer-friendly |

Collection Overview

Title: Surveyor's Books, 1938-1939

Extent: 24.0 Items

Arrangement: 24 numbered volumes arranged in the original, roughly chronological order.

Subjects: Cemeteries--New York (State)--New York--History, Green-Wood Cemetery, The

Languages: English

Abstract

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The collection is comprised of 24 handwritten and -drawn volumes recorded by Green-Wood Cemetery's surveyor in September 1938 through November 1939. The contents of the bound books are pencil drawings and notes outlining the location of graves in each lot within the sections of the cemetery at that time. Though some lots were skipped, the books encompass more than half of the cemetery as it existed in 1938-39. Today they represent approximately 25 percent of the cemetery's lots. The drawings often include measurements, geographical locations (streets, landmarks), and cardinal points; some indicate the location of gravestones. For many lots this is the only written record of this information. Each sketch is dated and labeled with lot and section numbers. Some pages include multiple drawings (up to four), while other drawings stretch across two pages. Throughout all volumes there are notes and indexes that were added later. Lot owners' surnames have been added to some drawings. The books are calfskin(?)-bound Standard Memorandum Books produced by Standard B&P, as indicated by a stamp on an endpaper. They measure 7 3/8"x4 3/4" with 96 leaves of lined paper.

Today these books are used by Green-Wood's surveyor and others when they need information on the location of specific lots and graves and to calculate how much space remains in each lot. The methodology of these records was unique; between 1939 and the present surveyor's tenure similar information was recorded and kept in specific lots' files. The books' value was underestimated until recently, when the current surveyor saved them from being discarded.

Condition: The volumes vary in condition. The covers of most are worn, especially at the spine and corners. Some bindings are loose, but all are still intact. The pages are mostly in very good condition, with some corners missing, and yellowing overall.

Subject/Index Terms

Cemeteries--New York (State)--New York--History
Green-Wood Cemetery, The

Administrative Information

Repository: The Green-Wood Cemetery

Processing Information: Accession #: 006-2016

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Item:

[Item 1: Volume 1, 1938 September 29-October 15],
[Item 2: Volume 2, 1938 October 8-15],
[Item 3: Volume 3, 1938 October 17-25],
[Item 4: Volume 4, 1938 October 25-November 5],
[Item 5: Volume 5, 1938 October 27-November 2],
[Item 6: Volume 6, 1938 November 2-15],
[Item 7: Volume 7, 1938 November 7-December 8],
[Item 8: Volume 8, 1938 November 15-December 17],
[Item 9: Volume 9, 1938 December 13-1939 July 26],
[Item 10: Volume 10, 1938 December 19-1939 July 29],
[Item 11: Volume 11, 1939 August 17-23],
[Item 12: Volume 12, 1939 August 2-10],
[Item 13: Volume 13, 1939 July 21-October 27],
[Item 14: Volume 14, 1939 July 26-August 2],
[Item 15: Volume 15, 1939 August 11-17],
[Item 16: Volume 16, 1939 August 23-29],
[Item 17: Volume 17, 1939 August 30-September 9],
[Item 18: Volume 18, 1939 September 9-18],
[Item 19: Volume 19, 1939 September 18-27],
[Item 20: Volume 20, 1939 September 27-October 7],
[Item 21: Volume 21, 1939 October 7-14],
[Item 22: Volume 22, 1939 October 16-21],
[Item 23: Volume 23, 1939 October 27-November 27],
[Item 24: Volume 24, 1939 November 25],
[All]

Item 4: Volume 4, 1938 October 25-November 5: Sections Include: 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 24, 25, 26, 27, 31, 32, 33, 34, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 53, 55, 56