Photo of Stockbridge Cemetery, Stockbridge, MA. ©Norman Rockwell Museum. All rights reserved.
This Thursday, October 24, 2013, join us for a pre-Halloween treat, as Norman Rockwell Museum will once again offer a walking tour of the Stockbridge Cemetery from 5 to 7 p.m. Visit the burial site of such luminaries as Elizabeth Freeman, the Sedgwick Family, and Norman Rockwell. A cider and donut reception will precede the tour on the lawn adjacent to the bell tower parking area at the old town hall in Stockbridge (across from the First Congregational Church, 4 Main Street).
Leading the tour is the Museum’s Curator of Education Tom Daly, along with special guest Mike “Lucky” Lukowiak. Lucky is not only an accomplished artist but also an established and respected paranormal investigator/cryptozoologist. Together they will direct explorers to the many notable names and distinct gravesite designs featured in the cemetery. Be sure to check out the “Sedgwick Pie,” the burial plot for the Sedgwick Family, which gets its nickname from its unique shape and layout. The sites are arranged around the graves of Theodore Sedgwick (1746-1813), a noted attorney, politician and justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and his wife, Pamela Dwight Sedgwick. Elizabeth Freeman (Mum Bett) (c.1742-1829) is also buried in the family plot− Freeman was among the first black slaves in Massachusetts to file a “freedom suit,” with help from Sedgwick, and win in court under the 1780 constitution.
Photo of Norman Rockwell’s gravesite, Stockbridge Cemetery. Photo ©Norman Rockwell Museum. All rights reserved.
Also of interest is the gravesite of artist Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), who lived in the town for the last 25 years of his life. Although tricky to find, visitors who happen upon Rockwell’s grave have been known to pay tribute to the artist by laying paint brushes on top of his memorial. Rockwell was buried along with his second and third wives (Mary Barstow, 1907-1959; Molly Punderson, 1896-1985). Admission to the Stockbridge Cemetery Tour is $5, free for members and children 12 and under. Enjoy a preview of the cemetery with our “spirited” photo gallery on Facebook.