Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
Honoring the Memory of Civil War Heroes and Citizens

In 2011, states, cities and institutions across the United States of America are duly commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the start of the Civil War. Many of those men engaged in battle, fighting on the sides of both the Union and Confederacy, now rest at Philadelphia’s Laurel Hill Cemetery. The site also holds sacred the remains of numerous, prominent Civil War-era citizens, including volunteer nurses, surgeons, and supporters of the war effort.

While proudly celebrating the 175th Anniversary of the cemetery’s founding in 2011, Laurel Hill will also join with fellow countrymen in remembering our nation's bloodiest and most pivotal war.

A commemorative, Sesquicentennial Exhibition, “A House Divided: The Citizens, the Celebrated, and the Seditious of Civil War Philadelphia,” will explore Laurel Hill’s varied historic and cultural connections to the American Civil War. It will highlight our chosen elite eleven, a select group of military figures and citizens whose contributions to the war together epitomize the stories of the peoples who lived during and through this stirring era in our nation’s history. These figures will remain a focus of the exhibit throughout the Sesquicentennial (2011-2015), in addition to a rotating selection of notables whose influence was most keenly apparent in specific years or battles of the war. Our 2011 notables will include those who we remember for the important roles they played after the outbreak of war in 1861. 

The opening of the Laurel Hill Civil War exhibition will take place on Tuesday evening, April 12. The exhibition will then be open to the public, admission-free and daily, 9:00am-4:00pm.

Laurel Hill Cemetery will also be commemorating its Civil War past during the following 2011 Sesquicentennial public programs and events:

Sunday, April 10, 2pm – April 12, 1861: The Outbreak of War

Sunday, May 22, 10am – Volunteer Memorial Day Flag Placement

Sunday, May 22, 2pm – By Arms and By Courage: The Military Legacy of Laurel Hill

Sunday, May 29, 12pm – Memorial Day Parade, Service and Reception

Sunday, June 12, 2pm – Buried in the Land of Strangers: The Confederates of Laurel Hill

Saturday, June 18, 2pm – Fathers and Sons in Arms: Two Generations of Military Heroes

Sunday, July 10, 2pm – Gettysburg and Beyond: Laurel Hill’s Ultimate Civil War Tour
Sunday, Sept. 18, 2pm – New Jersey in the Civil War: Remembering the Boys Beyond our Blue River

Thursday, Nov. 10, 11am – KIA: Honoring Our Heroes Killed in Action

Saturday, Dec. 31, 12pm – General Meade Birthday Celebration

For more info:

Phone (215)228-8200; email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; or visit www.thelaurelhillcemetery.org