Editing Cypress Hills Cemetery

{{Short description|Cemetery in New York City}}
{{About|the private cemetery at 833 Jamaica Avenue and along Cooper Avenue|the national cemetery mainly at 625 Jamaica Avenue|Cypress Hills National Cemetery}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2012}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox cemetery
| name = Cypress Hills Cemetery
| image = Front Entrance replication.JPG
| image_size = 250px
| alt = A road with an arch around it. The arch has a stone base and a tan brick with brown outline top of the arch that starts about 5 feet above the ground. At the very top of the arch it reads "1848 Cypress Hill Cemetery 833" with 833 being the street number.
| caption = Main entrance of the Cypress Hills Cemetery
| map_type = New York City
| map_caption = Location of Cypress Hills Cemetery in New York City
| established = 21 November 1848
| location = 833 Jamaica Avenue, [[New York City|New York]], [[New York (state)|New York]]
| country = [[United States]]
| coordinates = {{Coord|40.6962812|-73.8768394|type:landmark_region:US-NY_dim:2000_source:GNIS|display=title,inline}}
| type = Private, non-denominational
| style = [[Rural cemetery]]
| size = {{convert|225|acres}}
| interments = Over 400,000
| website = https://www.cypresshillscemetery.org/
| findagraveid = 64319
| nrhp = {{Infobox nrhp
| name = Cypress Hills National Cemetery
| embed = yes
| added = 13 November 1997
| refnum = 97001439
}}
}}
[[File:Lars Jacob at Mae West grave 2007.jpg|thumb|right|250px|At [[Mae West]]'s tomb]]

'''Cypress Hills Cemetery''' is a non-sectarian/non-denominational cemetery corporation organized in the [[Borough (New York City)|boroughs]] of [[Brooklyn]] and [[Queens]] in [[New York City]], the first of its type in the city. The cemetery is run as a non-profit organization and is located at 833 [[Jamaica Avenue]] in Brooklyn in the [[Cemetery Belt]] on the border of both boroughs, and its 225 acres are divided by the [[Jackie Robinson Parkway]]. Cypress Hills Cemetery retains its two primary entrances at Jamaica Avenue ([[Cypress Hills, Brooklyn]]) and Cooper Avenue ([[Glendale, Queens]]). [[Cemetery of the Evergreens]] lies directly to the southwest.

==History==

=== 19th century ===
Dedicated on November 21, 1848<ref>Bell, Jared. ''The Cemetery of the Cypress Hills'', 5th ed. New York: Published from the Rooms of the Cemetery, 1849.</ref> east of the [[Ridgewood Reservoir]], Cypress Hills Cemetery was opened for burials in 1851 and was designed in the [[rural cemetery]] style popular at the time. While most burials had previously taken place in or near religious establishments, growing public health concern about burial as a source of disease led to the [[Rural Cemetery Act]] and the creation of large rural cemeteries such as Cypress Hills Cemetery within the "Cemetery Belt".<ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/60761833/|title=Cypress Hills: History of the Origin of the Cemetery|date=July 26, 1874|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=July 26, 2019|page=2|via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com {{open access}}}}</ref> The initial board of trustees consisted of Abraham H. Van Wyck, Caleb S. Woodwell, C. Edwards Lester, Charles Miller, Luther R. Marsh, Edwin Williams, and Christian Delavan.<ref name=":0" />

A portion of the northwest area of the cemetery was designated as the [[Cypress Hills National Cemetery]]<ref>{{cite book | author=United States. Congress. Senate | title=Senate Documents, Otherwise Publ. as Public Documents and Executive Documents: 14th Congress, 1st Session-48th Congress, 2nd Session and Special Session | series=United States congressional serial set | issue=v. 2 | year=1872 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wI0FAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA29-PA7 | access-date=July 30, 2019 | page=29}}</ref> in 1862 as a military burial ground for soldiers of the [[American Civil War]].  A total of 3,425 [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] soldiers were buried there, in addition to 478 [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] soldiers who died while prisoners of war.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50421906/|title=Graves of the Veterans|date=May 28, 1899|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=July 26, 2019|page=15|via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com {{open access}}}}</ref> In 1941 it received the bodies of 235 Confederate prisoners who died on [[Hart Island (Bronx)|Hart Island]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/hart-cw-cemetery/hart-island-cw-graveyard.html|title=Hart Island Civil War Veterans Graveyard|website=www.correctionhistory.org|access-date=2018-12-07}}</ref>

139 soldiers from the [[Spanish–American War]] were re-interred at Cypress Hills Cemetery from [[Montauk Point]] in 1899.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50404973/|title=Cypress Hills: History of the Origin of the Cemetery|date=January 8, 1899|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=July 26, 2019|page=5|via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com {{open access}}}}</ref>

=== 20th century ===
In 1902, during the construction of the [[Jackie Robinson Parkway|Interboro Parkway]] through Cypress Hills, charges were laid of gross mismanagement by trustees who re-elected themselves each year without oversight, and who received a large income from the sale of burial plots but did not spend any of this on improvements to the cemetery. At this point, 150,000 bodies were buried at Cypress Hills Cemetery. A resolution was passed to create a State Senate committee to investigate these matters.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50417715/|title=Wagner wants inquiry into cemetery affairs|date=March 26, 1902|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=July 26, 2019|page=1|via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com {{open access}}}}</ref>

In the late 20th century, a period of mismanagement and controversy led to declaration of bankruptcy. Scandal erupted in 1998 when it was revealed that a section of the cemetery was built on unstable landfill; the cemetery had constructed the Terrace Meadow hill on landfill as a way to increase burial space and appeal to customers who sought burial plots on a hill with a good view. The New York State Supreme Court ruled that the area was unstable and all graves had to be moved.<ref>{{cite news | last=Toy | first=Vivian S. | title=A Final Resting Place That Isn't; Crumbling Landfill Encroaches on Cemetery's Tranquillity | work=The New York Times | date=September 21, 1998 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/21/nyregion/final-resting-place-that-isn-t-crumbling-landfill-encroaches-cemetery-s.html | page=B1| access-date=July 30, 2019}}</ref>

In 2003, charges were laid by Ravi Batra, one of its former court-appointed guardians, who accused another of trying to seize control by quietly installing one of his own employees as president of the cemetery's re-formed board of directors in a bid to gain control of the {{convert|200|acre|km2|adj=on}} cemetery.<ref>{{cite news |first=Andy |last=Newman |title=New Woe for Troubled Cemetery |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/03/nyregion/new-woe-for-troubled-cemetery.html |work=[[The New York Times]] | date=December 3, 2003 | page=B7 | accessdate=January 13, 2020}}</ref>

The cemetery serves as the final resting place for over 400,000 individuals.  The history of Cypress Hills Cemetery is featured in the book ''Images of America: Cypress Hills Cemetery'' by Stephen C. Duer and Allen B. Smith.{{ISBN?}}

==Features==
The cemetery is located on {{convert|225|acre}} of land. Its individual features include:
* Cypress Hills Abbey, built in 1926<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/08/theater/blown-sideways-but-landing-on-broadway.html?pagewanted=all |title=Blown Sideways, but Landing on Broadway |quote=West is buried in the Cypress Hills Abbey, a mausoleum built in 1926, with her parents and siblings. |author=Alex Witchel |author-link=Alex Witchel |date=May 8, 2000 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>
* Memorial Abbey, built in 1936
* Melrose Memorial Garden, built in 2008
* An urn garden
* War of 1812 Memorial
* Civil War Soldiers plot
* One [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission|Commonwealth war grave]] of Private Fred Wilshear, a World War I soldier of the [[British Army]] [[Royal Pioneer Corps|Labour Corps]]<ref name="cwgc">[http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/4010398/WILSHEAR,%20FRED CWGC Casualty record].</ref>

==Notable interments==
* [[Vytautas Bacevičius]] (1905–1970), Lithuanian pianist and composer<ref>[http://lituanie-culture.blogspot.com/2005/11/musique-vytautas-bacevicius-le.html Cahiers Lithuaniens, November 30, 2005]</ref>
* [[Captain (armed forces)|Captain]] [[Wynn Bagnall]] [[Military Cross|MC]] (1890–1931), the inspiration behind a statue by [[James Earle Fraser (sculptor)|James Earle Fraser]] in [[Canada]]<ref name="auto2">Obituary in ''[[The New York Times]]'', ''Captain Wynn Bagnall'', ''Canadian War Hero Buried Here With Military Honors'', March 12, 1931, p. 8</ref>
* [[Eubie Blake]] (1887–1983), musician and composer
* [[Nixzmary Brown]] (1998–2006), abused child and murder victim
* [[Collyer brothers|Homer Lusk Collyer]] (1881–1947), recluse and hoarder
* [[Collyer brothers|Langley Collyer]] (1885–1947), recluse and hoarder
* [[James J. Corbett]] (1866–1933), World Heavyweight boxing champion
* [[Hiram Cronk]] (1800–1905), last surviving veteran of the [[War of 1812]]
* [[William T. Dixon]] (1833–1909), Baptist minister
* [[Mock Duck]] (1879–1941), New York Chinese Chinatown gang leader
* [[Monk Eastman]] (1873–1920), notorious New York gang leader
* [[Lee Falk]] (1911–1999), cartoonist, creator of ''[[The Phantom]]''
* [[Bob Ferguson (infielder)|Bob "Death to Flying Things" Ferguson]] (1845–1894), major league baseball player and manager
* [[Fox sisters|Kate Fox]] (1837–1892), spiritualist
* [[Fox sisters|Maggie Fox]] (1833–1893), spiritualist
* [[Thomas Holmes (mortician)|Dr. Thomas Holmes]], physician who is considered the father of American embalming<ref>{{cite web |last=Moynihan |first=Colin |title=A Quest to Recognize Forgotten Achievements Still Relevant in Everyday Life |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/27/nyregion/recognizing-bits-of-our-forgotten-history.html |newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=May 27, 2014 |date=May 27, 2014 |page=A20|quote=[[Andrew Carroll]] placed a plaque for Dr. Thomas Holmes next to his burial site at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn.}}</ref>
* [[Irving Lehman]] (1876–1945), Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals
* [[Henry S. Jacobs]] (1827–1893), rabbi
* [[Philip J. Joachimsen]] (1817–1890), lawyer and New York Marine Court Judge
* [[George Leonidas Leslie]] (1842–1878) architect, bank robber
* [[Rosetta Lenoire]] (1911–2002), actress, National Medal of the Arts winner
* [[Samuel Liebmann]] (1799–1872), German-born brewer
* [[Wenjian Liu]] (1982–2014), New York City police officer, slain during the December [[2014 killings of NYPD officers]]
* [[Leo Merzbacher]] (1809–1856), rabbi
* [[Piet Mondrian]] (1872–1944), Dutch painter
* [[Victor Moore]] (1876–1962), actor, comedian
* [[Theodore W. Myers]] (1844–1918), banker and [[New York City Comptroller]]
* [[Jackie Robinson]] (1919–1972), Hall of Fame baseball player, the first African-American player in the major leagues
* [[Rufus L. Perry]] (1834–1895), journalist, Baptist minister
* [[Arturo Alfonso Schomburg]] (1874–1938), founder of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York City
* [[Capital Steez]] (1993–2012) former member of Pro Era, Founder of Beast coast movement
* [[Junius Brutus Stearns]] (1810–1885), painter
* [[Mae West]] (1893–1980), actress, comedian, and playwright
* [[Josh White]] (1914–1969), musician
* [[John B. Wood]] (1827–1884), journalist

==See also==
* [[List of United States cemeteries]]
* [[Rural Cemetery Act]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Cypress Hills Cemetery}}
* {{Official website}}
* {{Find a Grave cemetery}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090410062021/http://www.interment.net/data/us/ny/queens/cypress.htm Cypress Hills Cemetery] at Interment.net
* [http://www.tapeshare.com/CyCem.html Cypress Hills Cemetery], photos
* {{GNIS|type=retired|947976}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cemeteries in Brooklyn]]
[[Category:Cypress Hills, Brooklyn]]
[[Category:1848 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Rural cemeteries]]
[[Category:Cemeteries established in the 1840s]]