Videos

W. Jack Cunningham (1917-2004) spoke on science and technology in America as recorded in Grove Street Cemetery. Cunningham was on Yale University’s engineering faculty for more than four decades and published a history of the department in 1992. He gave tours of the notable people in science and engineering buried at Grove Street Cemetery; his scripts can be accessed here: https://www.grovestreetcemetery.org/explore/visiting/tours

Brian J. Skinner (1928-2019) commented on Cunningham’s paper. Skinner was the Eugene Higgins Professor of Geology & Geophysics at Yale University, and the author or editor of more than thirty books in his discipline.

Howard R. Lamar (1923-2023) spoke on four Civil War heroes buried in Grove Street Cemetery. A long-time History Department faculty member and administrator at Yale University, Lamar also served as university president in the early 1990s, and was a member of the cemetery’s Standing Committee of Proprietors.

Robert Leeney (1916-2008) was the commentator on Lamar’s paper. He was the editor of the New Haven Register.

This session was a panel discussion with seven participants:

Milton P. DeVane (1929-2012) was the panel chair. He was a lawyer in New Haven and the secretary of the cemetery’s Standing Committee of Proprietors.

Willian Clendaniel was the president and CEO of Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He also served as a founding member and chair of the Historic Cemeteries Alliance from 1995 to 2008.

Shepherd Holcombe, Sr. (1921-2012) was a Hartford civic leader active in many of the city’s cultural organizations, including Spring Grove Cemetery. He served as president and chair of Hartford’s Ancient Burying Ground Association.

William N. Hosley, Jr. (1955-2025), a historian, preservationist, and curator, was the director of Connecticut Landmarks (1997-2004) and the New Haven Museum (2006-2009). He was the author of a book on the history and preservation of Hartford’s Ancient Burying Ground (1994).

William McKinley Osborne (1929-2016) was a graduate of Yale University and a Cleveland businessman who served on the board of that city’s Lake View Cemetery.

They were joined by speakers Judith A. Schiff and David C. Sloane.