Burial benefits
College cemeteries on the East Coast
My husband, David, is a professor at Amherst College. The college’s chief rival is Williams College. Williams predates Amherst, and the schools’ histories are so intertwined that when Amherst was first chartered in 1825 the document included a provision that the trustees of Williams College could choose to merge with Amherst within seven years. Both colleges are in Massachusetts.
David and I have settled nicely into Amherst community, but I’ve learned of one perk offered to Williams faculty that has made me (jokingly) encourage David to try to move to that institution: there is a burial ground at Williams where faculty can choose to be buried.
The college burial ground
We moved to Amherst from Atlanta, and one thing I’ve enjoyed about living on the East Coast is being able to travel with David when he gives talks at nearby colleges. Through these trips, I’ve learned that Williams College isn’t the only institute of higher education to feature a burial ground.
The first one I encountered was at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire:
The next one I came across, which was much smaller, was at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut:
I haven’t had a chance yet to visit Williams College with David, but recently my uncle and I went to Williamstown to visit The Clark Art Institute, an amazing museum set in a gorgeous landscape that will be yet another reason I will (jokingly) encourage David to apply to Williams.
The size of the Williams College burial ground was slightly larger than at Wesleyan University, and it definitely included more recent burials:
At rest with colleagues
I’ve mentioned before the Enemies and Allies tour I envisioned creating at Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta where I was a tour guide. I’m sure this would be a potent topic for a college burial ground as well where professors are buried alongside beloved colleagues as well as faculty they may have warred with over budgets, tenure lines, and more.
Would you want to buried alongside your work colleagues?
If we are talking about work colleagues I have had in real life, NO lol! But I can understand for these people with a high calling it does make sense and those are great pictures!
Ooh, the Catholic secondary school I attended in South Australia had a burial ground for the nuns. One day I’ll write about a romantic meeting in those grounds.