Explore the old section of Springfield Cemetery and learn about its oldest gravestones, the symbolism of their designs, and who carved them.

Springfield Cemetery contains the oldest existing gravestones in the city, including hundreds of stones that date to the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries. Most of these were produced by local stonecutters, and their work reflects the changing styles of gravestone art and attitudes toward death during and immediately after the colonial period. Join local historian Derek Strahan via virtual lecture on January 9th at 7:00pm as he explores some of the highlights from the old section of Springfield Cemetery, including an overview of the evolution of gravestone styles, the symbolic meanings of the design elements, as well as the identities of these local gravestone carvers.

About the Lecture Series & Presenter

This virtual lecture is part of the Winter Lecture Series, co-presented by the Springfield Preservation Trust and Springfield Museums. The lecture will be streamed on the Springfield Preservation Trust Facebook Page.

The lecture will be presented by Derek Strahan. Derek Strahan is a board member and chair of the Educational Programming committee at the Springfield Preservation Trust, which is focused on protecting, preserving, and promoting historic properties in Springfield. He has been on the board since 2017 and served as president of the nonprofit from 2019 to 2023. He regularly leads historic walking tours of Springfield, presents lectures about Springfield’s history, and has also been a costumed interpreter at several of the organization’s annual “Voices of the Grave” cemetery tours. Aside from his work with the Trust, Strahan also runs the local history website LostNewEngland.com, and he is the author of “Lost Springfield, Massachusetts” and “New England Then and Now,” and is the host of the Western Mass History podcast. Derek has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a Bachelor of Science degree in Regional Planning from Westfield State University, and currently serves as a land use and environmental planner at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission. He and his wife Melissa are proud owners of a circa 1760 farmhouse, where they are raising their two young sons.

About the Springfield Preservation Trust

Founded in 1972, the Springfield Preservation Trust strives to preserve and protect properties in Springfield that have architectural or historic significance. As the only non-profit, non-government advocacy group for historic preservation in Springfield, the Trust will continue to be the voice of preservation into the future. To learn more, visit our website at springfieldpreservation.org.