Eastern Cemetery's Congress Street gates, decorated with red heart signage for Valentine's Day. The Dead House and naked trees decorate the horizon and a pretty shadow of the intricate gate shows on the sidewalk.

Eastern Cemetery gates on Valentine’s Day

2024 Lecture Series: Both in March!

Presenter: Andy O’Brien
Saturday, March 16
1:30pm at USM Glickman Library
Donations gladly accepted

Since the Colonial era, African Americans in Maine have fought for liberation—first by resisting their enslavement and petitioning for their emancipation, then by joining national movements for abolitionism and civil rights. O’Brien will trace the roots of Maine’s racial justice movement from slavery to its formal abolition in 1865. He will cover the role of Black Mainers in electoral politics in the antebellum period and grassroots organizing in the abolitionist and National Colored Convention movements. Learn about influential Black Mainers like activist Reuben Ruby, intellectual Robert Benjamin Lewis, pioneering journalist John Brown Russwurm, Reverend George H. Black, and the radical preacher Reverend William C. Monroe.

This is the second in our 3-event 2024 lecture series. Find out more: Winter Lecture Series 2024. Note: Parking at USM is no longer free, so arrive early to pay online or find a space on the street.

Presenter: Christopher Packard 
Saturday, March 30
1:30pm at USM Glickman Library
Donations gladly accepted

The presentation is an introduction to the creatures, beings, and monsters found in the stories and legends of all the cultures that have called Maine home over the years. Christopher will share the descriptions and stories of two dozen magical and mysterious creatures said to be found in the Maine woods and waters. Inspired by family oral tradition and personal experience, Packard conducted extensive research and investigation while writing his book “Mythical Creatures of Maine,” and he’ll share some of his favorite creatures in this talk which will take you well beyond Bigfoot. From the humorous to the terrifying, Maine has it all.

This is the third in our 3-event 2024 lecture series. Find out more: Winter Lecture Series 2024. Note: Parking at USM is no longer free, so arrive early to pay online or find a space on the street.

Marble gravestone for Emily Howell in Eastern Cemetery. A child is shown, smiling face peeking over the top and giving the thumbs up with their hands on either side, under a cloud-filled sky, the buildings of Congress Street behind.

Photograph courtesy of John Duncan, author of Take It Easy

Died: July 19 1840

As you enter the front gate and stroll down Funeral Lane, there’s a line of eroded marble markers on your left. One is for Emily Howell, who died in 1840 at age 30. Her mother and sister are beside her. Emily’s father Benjamin was a sea captain. He died of yellow fever in the West Indies in 1825 on the schooner Rebecca, which he’d no doubt named for his wife, Rebecca Dyer. Emily was 15 when her father died and 25 when her mother passed. She never married.

Sacred
to the memory of
EMILY,
daughter of
Benjamin Howell,
who died
July 19, 1840,
AEt. 30

Emily’s stone was photographed and is featured in the book Take It Easy, by John Duncan (published 2021), which celebrates life in Portland in the 1970s. The book is available in local stores and online.

Many thanks to Ron Romano who put together this information on Emily and obtained permission from John Duncan to use his photo. Suggest your own subterranean celebrity! Just send an email—it doesn't take much to make a nice little story. An index of all of our Subterranean Celebrities is available.

Winter in Eastern Cemetery. Photograph courtesy of Peter Ferrante

Friend and resident Eastern Cemetery historian, Ron Romano, has a gig at the library! Join him there for "Portland’s Historic Eastern Cemetery: A Field of Ancient Graves" on Saturday, April 13 at 1:30pm. Ron will guide attendees on a virtual tour through the cemetery's rich history. He will provide a peek into the City Tomb, an overview of special sections, and a look at how the landscape has changed over the centuries. He'll give us a glimpse into the lives of famous and ordinary Portland citizens whose mortal end brought them to Eastern Cemetery. From murderers and bank robbers to Quakers and war heroes, there are endless stories to be told (but he really will end them, probably around 2:30pm!)

Guess what cemetery fan group has its own shirts, caps, playing cards, and tote bags? Spirits Alive does, that’s who! Visit us on Zazzle to view all of our products. Please know that proceeds go directly back to Spirits Alive to help us fund our work to keep the Eastern Cemetery cared for and to teach others about its wonders.

Support Eastern Cemetery

You can help Spirits Alive keep the Eastern Cemetery alive for generations to come. Through your support, you can help us, an ALL-VOLUNTEER organization, to continue to:

  • Keep the gates open – encouraging the community to explore its open and safe green space

  • Offer education about the cemetery and its residents to the public – through tours, lectures, and events

  • Encourage and support the city in keeping the site clean and safe for visitors of all ages

  • Preserve this incredible outdoor museum and sacred historic landscape

Donate to Spirits Alive

Spirits Alive is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of Portland, Maine’s historic Eastern Cemetery through a range of activities including promotion and education.