Upcoming New England graveyard lectures!

Spirits Alive has just announced three upcoming Saturday afternoon lectures. The talks will explore aspects of Colonial New England burial grounds: customs and symbolism in stones, stone cutter Bartlett Adams, and the status of Portland's small burial grounds.

Stone for Andrew Mackie's Family Tomb, Eastern Cemetery, Portland

WHEN: Saturdays (monthly as listed below), 1:30 - 3:00pm
WHERE: University of Southern Maine, Abromson Center, Wishcamper Building - Room 102, 34 Bedford Street, Portland Maine
COST: Suggested donation: $5.00 per person

Series dates:

January 25: “The Art, History, and Symbolism of Early New England Gravestones”
Presented by the Gravestone Girls - Melissa Anderson, Maggie White, and Brenda Sullivan

February 22: “Bartlett Adams: Portland’s First Stone Cutter”
Exploring the life, times, and works of the shop of Bartlett Adams, who maintained his shop in Portland, Maine from 1800 to 1828. Lecturer: Ron Romano, member of Spirits Alive Board and Summer Tour Docent

March 29: “The Status and Future of Portland's Forgotten Cemeteries”
A panel of cemetery representatives will discuss several historic small burial grounds in the area and what is takes to restore them to our cultural landscape.

EVENT: Death & Civil War lecture

WHAT: Death and Survival in the Civil War, lecture
WHEN: Saturday, March 26, 2011, 10:00 - 11:00am
WHERE: Maine Historical Society, 489 Congress Street, Portland, ME
COST: Free, Donations Appreciated
FMI: http://www.spiritsalive.org/events/lectures.htm

The last lecture in the series, "Death and Survival in the Civil War," will take place on March 26. “Dead Men’s Pockets: Gettysburg Bodies and Other Stories” will be presented by Margaret Creighton, Professor at Bates College. Creighton wrote Colors of Courage: Gettysburg's Forgotten History which considers the legendary battle of Gettysburg from the perspectives of white women civilians, African American civilians, and immigrant soldiers. This book was a runner-up for the Lincoln Prize and named as one of the five best books on Gettysburg by the Wall Street Journal.

The theme of this year's Spirits Alive 3-lecture series was chosen in support of the 150th Anniversary of the American Civil War (2011–2015). The lectures offer insight into this country's greatest national crisis in relation to death and dying. It is estimated that up to 700,000 people, or 2% of the population died in the War Between the States.

About Spirits Alive
Spirits Alive is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of Portland's historic Eastern Cemetery through a range of activities including promotion and education. Founded in 2007, the group carries out an active program of seasonal tours of the cemetery, a winter lecture series, and is conducting a stone-by-stone inventory of the nearly 4,000 grave markers still existing in the 340-year-old cemetery. http://www.spiritsalive.org