In New Haven, Connecticut, is a
burial ground called the Grove Street Cemetery, completely surrounded by the
campus of Yale University. One day, the president of Yale was walking through
New Haven, and he looked up at the inscription on the gate of the cemetery. It
said, “The dead shall be raised.” The president commented, “They certainly
shall ... if Yale ever needs the property.”
The Grove Street Cemetery was founded
in 1796 as America’s first planned burial ground. It contains a number of
notable Americans, including Noah Webster of dictionary fame; Eli Whitney,
inventor of the cotton gin; and Walter Camp, pioneer of American football. It
also has some gravestones with fascinating inscriptions. John Boswell was a
scholar whose research into same-sex unions in the medieval church caused a
stir in the 1990s. His headstone has a line from The Chronicles of Narnia:
“He was not a tame lion.” There are stories in these stones!
Two chemists are also buried at
Grove Street, John Kirkwood and Lars Onsager. They were friends as well as
rivals. Kirkwood’s stone is inscribed with a long list of academic positions
and honors, a complete professional résumé. Onsager’s stone, on the other hand,
simply says, “Nobel Laureate ... etc.”1 In terms of professional
rivalry, you can tell that Onsager gained the upper hand. Yes, there are
stories in these stones!
Gravestone
for Jesus
Jesus was walking with his
disciples to the v
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