Forest Home honors Memorial Day, Preservation Month with dedications, tours and volunteer opportunities
Photo from Forest Home Cemetery & Arboretum.
MILWAUKEE __ Forest Home Cemetery & Arboretum (2405 W. Forest Home Ave.) celebrates Preservation Month and Memorial Day this May with events from May 6 to May 29: historical presentations and tours, installation of Milwaukee’s first National Register marker from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, and a monument dedicated to a Wisconsin Civil War hero.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation established Preservation Month in 1973 to promote historic sites for the purpose of instilling national and community pride, promoting heritage tourism, and showing the social and economic benefits of historic preservation. Forest Home joins nonprofits nationwide in co-sponsoring the annual event.
National Register marker from William G. Pomeroy Foundation
Saturday, May 6, 11:30 a.m.
Forest Home Cemetery kicks off Preservation Month with the installation of a National Register marker funded by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, which has funded more than 2,100 National Register markers across the United States. The Department of the Interior named Forest Home Cemetery to its National Register of Historic Places in 1980 in acknowledgment of the site’s historical significance as Milwaukee’s oldest continuously operating cemetery. The Forest Home marker will be Milwaukee’s first from the Pomeroy Foundation.
The marker will be installed at the Lincoln Avenue entrance during a public ceremony; media and the public are welcome.
Flags for Veterans
May 13-24
Thousands of men and women who served in the U.S. military have been laid to rest at Forest Home Cemetery. Volunteers are invited to honor them May 13 to 24 by placing flags at veterans’ graves. Volunteers must register in advance to pick up flags and a map of their assigned section.
General Lysander Cutler monument dedication
Sunday, May 28, 2 p.m.
Preservation Month celebrations continue as the Milwaukee Civil War Roundtable dedicates a monument honoring Civil War hero General Lysander Cutler (1807-1866). The new monument replaces his original 1866 gravestone. Media and the public are invited to attend.
Memorial Day events
Monday, May 29, 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Forest Home’s capstone May event is its annual Memorial Day celebration on Monday, May 29, beginning with a memorial service in the landmark chapel and wreath laying in the Garden of Honor. Historical interpreters will bring to life the stories of ten notable Milwaukeeans. The event will conclude with a free Milwaukee history tour.
More information is available online. Media are invited to contact Sara Tomilin, executive director of the Forest Home Historic Preservation Association, with questions about the events or to schedule alternative tours, photos or interviews at the cemetery.
About The William G. Pomeroy Foundation
The William G. Pomeroy Foundation® is committed to supporting the celebration and preservation of community history; and working to improve the probability of finding appropriate donor matches or other life-saving treatments for blood cancer patients. Established by Trustee Bill Pomeroy in 2005 to bring together his two greatest passions, the Pomeroy Foundation is a private, philanthropic organization located in Syracuse, N.Y. As the nation’s leading funder of historic roadside markers, the Pomeroy Foundation has awarded more than 2,100 grants for markers and bronze plaques in 48 states and Washington, D.C. To learn more about the Pomeroy Foundation, visit wgpfoundation.org.
About Forest Home Cemetery & Arboretum
Forest Home Cemetery was established in 1850 as a cemetery for the city. As Milwaukee prospered and expanded, the cemetery became the final resting place for 26 mayors, more than 1,000 Civil War veterans and countless prominent people who left their mark on Milwaukee.
Today, Forest Home Cemetery & Arboretum is an independent non-profit that operates as an historic site with tours and events, as well as an active cemetery assisting families with traditional and green burials as well as cremation. In 2021, Forest Home became the city’s first accredited arboretum; its 200 acres offer a place for recreation, solitude and environmental preservation and programming. Forest Home staff proudly serve as caretakers of Milwaukee history, art and nature.
The Forest Home Historic Preservation Association supports the Forest Home Cemetery & Arboretum through philanthropic, fundraising and outreach efforts.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.
