Catching up on some previous trips — this is Christ Church and the Old Burial Ground in Cambridge. I visited here with my friend Suzanne, who works at Harvard. Gorgeous!
It’s the oldest church building in Cambridge, built 1760, and occupied by Continental troops 1775. George and Martha Washington attended a prayer service here. Teddy Roosevelt taught Sunday School here while attending Harvard, though his tenure ended when he refused to become an Episcopalian. Can you imagine having TR as your Sunday School teacher?
Adjacent is the Old Burial Ground, opened in 1636:
From this piece in the Harvard Gazette:
The stones often carried the telltale memento mori, images of death designed to remind the living of their own mortality.
“The Puritans were trying to frighten people with images of death,” Sullivan said. “Even when you’re alive, you’re close to death. Here is death staring you in the face. So, straighten up and fly right.”
