An initiative to acquire, restore, and steward historic Mt. Vernon Cemetery in Philadelphia.
The Mt. Vernon Cemetery Conservation Company (MVCCC) seeks to raise charitable pledges, which will cover the costs of transfer of the cemetery from its temporary conservator, Philadelphia Community Development Coalition, Inc. (PCDC) to MVCCC, a new 501(c)(13) nonprofit cemetery corporation. Once under the stewardship of MVCCC, concerted capital and operating fundraising can be undertaken to restore the cemetery and initiate public programming.
Pledge Today!
Pledges of all sizes are welcome!
Any pledge over $500, however, will require an additional pledge agreement. If you pledge at or above this amount, you will receive an email with a copy of the agreement and instructions from Thaddeus Squire of Social Impact Commons, which has been engaged to manage the Mt. Vernon Cemetery Conservation Company. Any questions about this pledge drive may be directed by email to Mr. Squire: thaddeus [at] socialimpactcommons.org.
All pledges are conditional and subject to the Court of Common Pleas approving MVCCC as the purchaser of the cemetery at the conclusion of the conservatorship, described below. You will be kept apprised of the conservatorship progress and the Court’s final determination. If the cemetery should be acquired by another qualified 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(13) organization, pledges will be transferable to that charity.
Your pledge will help MVCCC make its case to the Court concerning financial and community support!
How did we get here?
Since 2017, a team of preservationists and community organizers have been working to transfer Mt. Vernon from its long-time, private owner, Joseph Murphy, Esq., to the Mt. Vernon Cemetery Conservation Company, Inc. (MVCCC), a Pennsylvania nonprofit cemetery corporation. MVCCC is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(13) of the Internal Revenue Code and is permitted to accept charitable pledges and donations, as well as undertake certain aspects of cemetery operations, general maintenance, historic preservation, and public stewardship.
The trustees of MVCCC include notable Philadelphia nonprofit leaders, Aaron Wunsch (Professor of Preservation, University of Pennsylvania), Alexander “Pete” Hoskins (former Executive Director of Laurel Hill Cemetery), Ross Mitchell (Executive Director, Glen Foerd on the Delaware), Regina Miller, (Archivist, Mt. Vernon Cemetery), and David Othmer (Board Member, Pennsylvania Historical Society). MVCCC receives management services from Social Impact Commons, Inc., a nonprofit 501(c)(3) supporting organization.
Initially, negotiations with Mr. Murphy seemed to be proceeding well, and an arm’s-length transfer of the historic property appeared possible. But following several years of inaction from the owner, MVCCC leaders approached Philadelphia Community Development Coalition, Inc. (PCDC), a nonprofit conservator organization operating in Philadelphia, about the possibility of removing the owner through an Act 135 Conservatorship action.
As a result, Mt. Vernon Cemetery, located at 3499 West Lehigh Ave, Philadelphia, PA, is currently subject to an action under the Abandoned and Blighted Property Conservatorship Act (a.k.a. Act 135). The Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas awarded Conservatorship and thus control of the Cemetery to PCDC on May 5, 2021, removing control of the property from Mr. Murphy.
Act 135 was created to enable the remediation of blighted properties when absent or negligent owners fail to act. A qualified conservator, such as PCDC, petitions the court to name them as conservator, assuming the property complies with the requirements of the Act. The conservator then takes control (but not title) of the property under Court supervision and completes blight remediation actions approved by the Court and financed by conservator. Once the remediation is complete, the Act requires sale of the property to a new owner, with Court supervision. Conservators are permitted a fee for their services, calculated at no more than 20% of the Court-approved remediation budget.
Given the unusual nature of Mt. Vernon as an historic cemetery, conventional sale following the satisfaction of the conservatorship may not be possible. PCDC is using its own funds to pay for remediation. Absent a viable “market” for the cemetery and to provide PCDC an avenue for exit and cost recovery, MVCCC is raising pledges to cover PCDC’s costs. Should the Court approve MVCCC as the buyer, MVCCC will enter into a Purchase Agreement with PCDC and will call for payment of all pledges. A conventional closing will follow in which MVCCC uses these charitable contributions to purchase the property, reimbursing PCDC for its remediation costs and fees. PCDC anticipates spending between $150,000 and $200,000 on repairs to the exterior of the gatehouse, vegetation remediation, and repairs to the perimeter fence.
Our Mission
Should the Court approve MVCCC as the long-term owner of the cemetery, we intend to restore and re-operate the cemetery, providing ongoing care and maintenance of the site and its monuments, as well as more ready access for families and relatives. The conservatorship action will not entail a complete restoration. That work will take some time and additional fundraising efforts.
MVCCC will offer unsold space for new burials, with a focus on building columbaria (repositories for cremains) and potentially also alternative burial methods that are gaining popularity and regulatory approval.
MVCCC imagines Mt. Vernon as a managed civic space, much on the models of many historic urban cemeteries, such as its sister across the street, Laurel Hill Cemetery, and The Woodlands in West Philadelphia. This will entail public programming, historic tours and education programs, as well as making the cemetery accessible for general visitors. Community-based gardening and horticulture programming also figure prominently into this vision as means of regenerating and maintaining the flora of the historic landscape.
With your support, we envision Mt. Vernon to become not only an active cemetery again, but also a cultural heritage destination, an environmentally preserved green space in the city, an architectural and sculptural mecca, and destination for history and genealogy lovers.
What can I do?
HELP us reach our $250,000 goal.
SPREAD the word about our campaign.
Can I visit the cemetery?
While the conservatorship is underway, access to the cemetery is limited and subject to the approval of PCDC. To inquire about access, please contact Dustin Houck at dustin [at] phlcdc.org.
Why is Mt. Vernon Important?
Preserving Mt. Vernon is first and foremost an act of social justice, allowing the hundreds of families with loved ones buried there long-overdue access to and care of their gravesites. It is also an urgent act of historic preservation, given the importance of Mt. Vernon as a major American urban cemetery.
Historic Mt. Vernon Cemetery comprises about 23 acres and is the final resting place of 33,000 people. It was established in 1856 in competition with its neighbor, Laurel Hill Cemetery, as part of the “Rural Cemetery” movement that held sway the United States in the decades preceding the Civil War. While smaller than the 87-acre, Laurel Hill, Mt. Vernon is historically and architecturally significant. Both institutions’ gatehouses were designed by leading architect and landscape gardener John Notman.
In 1864, the Gardel Memorial was added to Mount Vernon. It is a memorial to Julia Hawks Gardel, the principal of a female seminary in Philadelphia, who died in 1859. Her husband, Bertrand Gardel, commissioned Philadelphia architect Napoleon LeBrun and Belgian sculptor Guillaume Geefs to create a 25-foot pyramid made of sandstone, marble and imported granite. The front of the pyramid is adorned with large marble statues which represent the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa to depict Julia's love of travel. Two statues above the pyramid door depict Hope and Faith holding a carved relief of Julia. The statue atop the pyramid represents America surrounded by emblems of the physical sciences. Bertrand Gardel died in 1895 and is interred in the vault beneath the memorial with his wife.
In 1867, the Second Presbyterian Church burial ground on Arch Street was closed and 2,500 bodies were reinterred at Mount Vernon many from the 1700s including several Revolutionary War heroes.
The Drew family plot at Mount Vernon contains generations of the Barrymore family. John Barrymore left in his will that he wished to be buried in the Drew family plot but was originally interred in Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. In 1980, his son John Drew Barrymore had his father's remains removed from the family mausoleum, cremated and reinterred in Mount Vernon Cemetery. His grave was unmarked until 1992, when fans had a stone installed which had engraved upon it, "Alas poor Yorick" in a reference to his stage performance of Hamlet.
Notable Burials
John Barrymore (1882-1942), stage, screen and radio actor
Maurice Barrymore (1849-1905), stage actor
George C. Burling (1834-1885), Union Army officer during the U.S. Civil War
Georgiana Drew (1856-1893), stage actress and comedian
John Drew (1827-1862), stage actor and theatre manager
John Drew, Jr. (1853-1927), stage actor
Louisa Lane Drew (1820-1897), actress and theatre owner
Louise Drew (1882-1954), stage actress
Sidney Drew (1863-1913), member of the Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew comedy team
Sidney Rankin Drew (1891-1918), actor and film director
Peter Stephen Du Ponceau (1760-1844), linguist, philosopher and jurist
Christian Febiger (1749-1796), American Revolutionary War commander
Charles Albert Fechter (1824-1879), actor
Charlie Householder (1854-1913), professional baseball player
William Churchill Houston (1746-1788), New Jersey delegate to the Continental Congress
Samuel Jaudon (1796-1874), banker and businessman
Lawrence Johnson (1801-1860), printing stereotyper and type-founder
Judy Lewis (1935-2011), actress, writer, producer and therapist
Henry Myers (1858-1895), professional baseball player
Lawrence Saint (1885-1961), stained glass artist
Maria Louise Sanford (1836-1920), educator
Alfred J. Sellers (1836-1908), Medal of Honor recipient
Bill Sharsig (1855-1902), Major League Baseball co-owner and general manager
Jonathan Bayard Smith (1742-1812), Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress
John P. Van Leer (1834-1862), Union Army officer
Jake Virtue (1865-1943), professional baseball player
Pelatiah Webster (1726-1795), colonial merchant and author of short essays on finances and the government of the United States