Graceland, Chicago
When I'm in Chicago and have some time, I try to stop at a cemetery. This trip, it was late in the afternoon, and Graceland was the only one open. I'd been there a few times before, but it's always nice, and I always find something new.
The monument of piano maker, William Wallace Kimball (1828-1904).
The hands of Kimball's angel.
On the tomb of Orrin Woodward Potter, president of Illinois Steel Company, and his wife Ellen Owen Potter.
Monument for the family of lumber baron, Samuel Klump Martin (1837-1896). Not a mausoleum, just a monument - their graves are in the ground before it. Also, judging from photos on the internets, it has been cleaned in the last two or three years.
The Pullman monument.
The graves of legendary dancer Ruth Page, and legendary baseball player, Ernie Banks.
Ruth Page bio
Ernie Banks bio
The grave of Linda Manuel and son Christopher (1930-2007 and 1964-2005). The flowers were on the ground in front of the marker. I set the flowers on top of it so I could get a photo of the name, so I could remember it. Moments after taking the picture, the wind blew the container down, scattering the glads, and breaking many of the stems! I put them back in, best I could, and went back to my car to get some water for them (the container had been dry anyway).
Modernist cube for Dorothea Louise Berggren (1945- ) and Wilhelm Julius Borntraeger (1934- )
O.H. Ahlgren and the El.
Famed architecht, Louis Sullivan. He was known as Chicago's "Father of the skyscrapers" and "Father of modernism". An inscription on the back of the monument reads:
1856 Louis Henri Sullivan 1924
By his buildings great in influence and power; his drawings unsurpassed in originality and beauty; his writings rich in poetry and prophesy; his teachings persuasive and eloquent; his philosophy were, in "form follows function," he summed up all truth in art, Sullivan has earned his place as one of the greatest architectural forces in America. In testimony of this, his professional and other friends have built this monument.
Detail of the above monument. Note the coins.
Sullivan designed three tombs, two of which are at Graceland. At a glance, this doesn't look like it was designed by Louis Sullivan, but look closely at the gate, next photo...
The tomb of Eliza and Henry Getty, designed by Louis Sullivan in 1890, three years after the Ryerson tomb. Click for another view.
The arch over the bronze door and the type of stone on Rudolph Schloesser's mausoleum (1825-1898) are similar to the Getty tomb, but it was not designed by Sullivan.
Interesting window bars over stained glass.
Mariano Rizzo was blinded in a robbery attempt, and subsequently learned Braille while in prison. He became an avid reader and a writer.
Read his story.
The monument of piano maker, William Wallace Kimball (1828-1904).
The hands of Kimball's angel.
On the tomb of Orrin Woodward Potter, president of Illinois Steel Company, and his wife Ellen Owen Potter.
Monument for the family of lumber baron, Samuel Klump Martin (1837-1896). Not a mausoleum, just a monument - their graves are in the ground before it. Also, judging from photos on the internets, it has been cleaned in the last two or three years.
The Pullman monument.
The graves of legendary dancer Ruth Page, and legendary baseball player, Ernie Banks.
Ruth Page bio
Ernie Banks bio
The grave of Linda Manuel and son Christopher (1930-2007 and 1964-2005). The flowers were on the ground in front of the marker. I set the flowers on top of it so I could get a photo of the name, so I could remember it. Moments after taking the picture, the wind blew the container down, scattering the glads, and breaking many of the stems! I put them back in, best I could, and went back to my car to get some water for them (the container had been dry anyway).
Modernist cube for Dorothea Louise Berggren (1945- ) and Wilhelm Julius Borntraeger (1934- )
O.H. Ahlgren and the El.
Famed architecht, Louis Sullivan. He was known as Chicago's "Father of the skyscrapers" and "Father of modernism". An inscription on the back of the monument reads:
1856 Louis Henri Sullivan 1924
By his buildings great in influence and power; his drawings unsurpassed in originality and beauty; his writings rich in poetry and prophesy; his teachings persuasive and eloquent; his philosophy were, in "form follows function," he summed up all truth in art, Sullivan has earned his place as one of the greatest architectural forces in America. In testimony of this, his professional and other friends have built this monument.
Detail of the above monument. Note the coins.
Sullivan designed three tombs, two of which are at Graceland. At a glance, this doesn't look like it was designed by Louis Sullivan, but look closely at the gate, next photo...
The tomb of Eliza and Henry Getty, designed by Louis Sullivan in 1890, three years after the Ryerson tomb. Click for another view.
The arch over the bronze door and the type of stone on Rudolph Schloesser's mausoleum (1825-1898) are similar to the Getty tomb, but it was not designed by Sullivan.
Interesting window bars over stained glass.
Mariano Rizzo was blinded in a robbery attempt, and subsequently learned Braille while in prison. He became an avid reader and a writer.
Read his story.