On March 11, John Hanson described for us his walk through Amherst’s West Cemetery, and his consideration of the gravestone epitaphs he found there. Describing himself as ‘a recovering English major,’ he is in a position to identify quotations from the Bible and from the classics of English literature and hymnody, as well as from more obscure sources. A separate category is for those epitaphs which seem to have been made up for the occasion, and then perhaps borrowed from one gravestone to another.

After hearing Mr Hanson’s lecture you may find yourself reading gravestones and their messages in a whole new way. His lecture is now online; you may view it here.

Coming up next week:
Join us at noon on Friday, April 8, in the Woodbury Room, when Bob Drinkwater will return with a further consideration of the gravestones in West Cemetery. His previous lecture, from April of 2019, is viewable here.