Records at The Woodlawn Cemetery - Serving Metropolitan NY City for over 140 years.

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THE WOODLAWN CEMETERY maintains an archive containing millions of records associated with interment, memorialization and care and design of lots. There are more than 300,000 individuals interred at The Woodlawn Cemetery in 48,000 single grave lots, 47,000 family lots, 1300 private family mausoleums and 8 community mausoleums. Over the years hundreds of researchers have contacted the cemetery to obtain copies of records to help them compile a family history, a biography of a notable individual, or a history of an architect, artist or landscape designer who worked at The Woodlawn Cemetery. Every effort is made to assist researchers and genealogists with their projects; fees are charged to cover costs or retrieving, copying and mailing records. Out or respect for those in our care and for security reasons, some records are considered private and can only be obtained by the current Lot Owner.

Privacy issues, location of records, and volume of materials prohibits researchers from going through records. Research requests must be submitted in writing, by letter, fax or email. Requests for information must be received prior to a researcher scheduling a visit to the cemetery. After receiving the request for information, The Woodlawn Cemetery will provide the researcher with a cost estimate. After receiving approval to proceed from the researcher, the request for information is filled on a first come first served basis.

Interment Records

Finder Card - Prior to the computerization of our records, the administrative office created index cards to make it easy to locate individuals interred in The Woodlawn Cemetery. These finder cards are organized in alphabetical order so it is important to provide the correct spelling of the legal name of the deceased when requesting information.

Finder Cards provide the following information:

Name of the individual

Age at the time of death

Lot Number where they are buried

Section where the Lot is located

Plot where the Lot is located

Date of Death

Date of Interment

Last Residence - in many cases this will be the place of death

Finder Card

Interment Order - The information found on the Finder Card is a summary of the details recorded on the individual interment order. Interment orders are considered Private Records by The Woodlawn Cemetery; in order to obtain an Interment Order you must be the Lot Owner.

Interment Orders can provide the following additional information:

Place of Birth

Undertaker/Funeral Director

Cause of Death

Individual Authorized to open grave or crypt

Relationship to Lot Owner

Over the years the information collected by the cemetery has changed as government requirements for record keeping changed. Some Interment Orders have all the above information where others will only have some of the information. For example, in the mid 20th century, cemeteries were no longer required to record cause of death so The Woodlawn Cemetery stopped obtaining that information form the Funeral Director.

Interment Order

Lot Cards

The interment of each individual is recorded onto a Lot Card or Community Mausoleum Card. Over the years, Lot Cards have served as the primary source of information for interments, memorialization, care and family contact.

Lot Cards can provide the following information:

Lot Number

Section where the Lot is located

Plot where the Lot is located

HMIS Identification Number

Heirship Affidavit Number

Bequest Number, date of Bequest, amount of Bequest, and type of care

Size of Lot in square feet

List of interments and location of burial

Age at the time of death

Date of Death

Date of Foundation or Inscriptions

Lot Layout and diagram of graves/crypts and monuments

In the early days of operation, the cemetery did not record interment details or indicate the location of memorials on the Lot Cards. By 1940, all information was transferred to the Lot Card and when additional individuals were interred, Lot Cards were updated to serve as the main source for information for a Family Lot.

Lot Card

Memorials

From 1870 to 1900, records associated with the placement of memorials were kept in the journals of the cemetery engineer, in ledgers and diagram books. These records cannot be copied and can't be viewed by appointment.

After 1900, families and monument companies were required to provide detailed drawings of the proposed memorials prior to preparing the foundation. The archives contain over 200,000 foundation orders, drawings, and specifications for the construction of private mausoleums, large memorials and headstones and footstone.

Foundation Orders
Prior to the pouring of a concrete foundation by the cemetery, Lot Owners were required to submit a sketch of the monument to the cemetery for approval. When inscriptions were added to an existing monument, a form was also required.

Foundation Orders can provide the following information:

Date of Monument

Individual Authorization Monument

Dimensions of Monument

Type of Stone

Monument Company

Foundation order for Lot of Herman Melville

Monument Designs
Among the thousands of memorials at The Woodlawn Cemetery there are monuments where families commissioned architects and artists to design the sculpture and stonework. Prior to approving the design, the cemetery required a complete set of detailed drawings, specifications and planting plans. These documents cannot be copied and must be reviewed at the cemetery by appointment.	Photography of proposed sculpture of DeLong Memorial

Design of Stewart Family Memorial

Mausoleum Plans
For the majority of the 1300 mausoleums built after 1900, there are drawings, specifications and planting plans. These documents cannot be copied and must be reviewed at the cemetery by appointment.

Taylor Mausoleum, 1902 McKim Mead and White Architects

Family Correspondence
The Woodlawn Cemetery maintains files of correspondence associated with the care and maintenance of the grounds, monuments and mausoleums. These documents are considered private records and available to Lot Owners only.

Letter from Alva Belmont concerning the opening of her mausoleum

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The Woodlawn Cemetery
Webster Avenue & E. 233rd Street • Bronx, NY 10470

Phone: (718) 920-0500 • Toll Free: (877) 496-6352
Fax: (718) 920-0512

Open Every Day: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.