Mt. Zion Cemetery

Of all the Jewish cemeteries in New York, Mt. Zion is the most crowded. Now sandwiched between an aging power station and a major highway artery, more than 200,000 individuals have been buried there—waves of immigrants from the turn of the 19th century; victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire; to the most prominent families in the city.

Its density alone makes it remarkable, but its graves, from the early monumental family graves to the stele with the names of those fallen during World War II give it a stature that is unique.

This project is still in its inception. Documenting it for the present could be either a chronology of its inception in the 19th century and development to what it looks like and represents today, or a carefully curated analysis of how that development relates to the history of Judaism in New York, especially through the periods of massive immigration and the emergence of a powerful, integrated Jewish community.