Graceland Cemetery Chicago stories, symbols, and secrets

Tourists who want to get a real sense of a city know that the best repository of its life and culture may be, strangely enough, cemeteries. Paris has Père Lachaise, Venice has San Michele, Los Angeles has Forest Lawn. For Chicago, it's the inimitable Graceland. Chicago author and historian Selzer (H.H. Holmes, 2017) provides a detailed walking guide to the graves of Graceland. For those who can't be there in person, the book's many photographs not only record the gravestones and monuments, but give revealing documentation on the interred, whether famous, notorious, or simply of worthy note. Grand monuments mark the resting places of Chicago's wealthiest citizens. Others are commemorated less conspicuously. Louis Sullivan's grave is a modest rock, but his Getty Family Tomb is considered by many to be the inaugural moment of a new style of modern architecture. Lorado Taft created a striking sculpture that captures the solemn mystery of the cemetery's purpose. Selzer unravels some of the rumors that have circulated about the possible attempts to secure the remains of George Pullman against those who sought some postmortem revenge. Excellent reading for both tourists and armchair travelers Selzer's work may also prove useful for genealogical collections.