Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, will be celebrated this year on November 1-2. On this traditional Mexican holiday, it is believed that the souls of the dead return to visit their living family members. In Providence, family and friends might celebrate the day by visiting the graves of deceased loved ones throughout the city or going to this year’s RI Latino Arts celebration at the Southside Cultural Center. Gathering begins at 5:30pm and a procession to the nearby Grace Church Cemetery will begin at approximately 6:45pm (sunset).
There are 61 cemeteries in Providence and individual plots are listed here. Most of these cemeteries are open for visiting, so check them out! Here are some factoids:
112 acres encompasses North Burial Ground (Branch Ave.), the first public cemetery in Providence
27,428 graves dating from 1711 to present are in the North Burial Ground (Branch Ave.)
3 graves dating from 1690 to 1786 are in the Sayles-Payne Cemetery (Adelaide Ave.)
6,595 graveyard inscriptions at Locust Grove Cemetery (Elmwood Ave.); it was established in 1848 by Amos D. Smith, James Y. Smith, William V. Daboll and other Elmwood real estate speculators, and was not affiliated with a church
23 Rhode Island Governors are buried at Swan Point Cemetery (Blackstone Blvd.)
40+ graves were vandalized at North Burial Ground (Branch Ave.) in 2016
14 graves from the State Home and School Cemetery (Mt. Pleasant Ave.), were moved to Grace Church Cemetery in 1957
9 Catholic cemeteries are maintained by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, including St. Patrick Cemetery (Chad Brown and Smith Streets) established in 1844
8,869 graveyard inscriptions are in the Grace Church Cemetery (Elmwood Ave., Broad St., W. Friendship St.) affiliated with Grace Church (Mathewson St.), established in 1834
1881 death of Ambrose Everett Burnside, Civil War Union General, for whom Burnside Park, downtown, is named. His impressive facial hair is where we get the term “sideburns” today. Burnside is buried at Swan Point Cemetery.
Sources:
https://rihistoriccemeteries.org/newsearchcemetery.aspx
https://dioceseofprovidence.org/catholic-cemeteries-1
https://www.providenceri.gov/parks/north-burial-ground/
https://fun107.com/famous-people-buried-rhode-island/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
Nini Stoddard is a proud Providence resident. After living abroad as the child of a US diplomat, she returned to the United States to attend college. She lived in Connecticut and enjoyed working as a librarian, as a director of a regional non-profit, and as a prospect researcher. Nini moved to Providence in 2006 to work at Brown University as a senior prospect researcher. Now retired, she loves local history and volunteering.
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