On Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020, Longfellow House Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site and Mount Auburn Cemetery co-sponsored a 213th birthday celebration for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Nearly 100 visitors gathered in Mount Auburn’s Story Chapel for a presentation by Dr. Adriana Greci Green, Curator of Indigenous Arts of the Americas.
Dr. Green’s lecture, "Anishinaabe Performances of Longfellow’s Hiawatha", centered on the adaptation of Longfellow’s poem by the Ojibway and Waganakising Odawa communities of the Great Lakes Region, which resulted in hundreds of performances and even a visit by the Longfellow family in 1900.
Following the lecture, visitors had an opportunity to ask questions, mingle, and indulge in birthday cake and refreshments. Park staff, Longfellow family members, and visitors gathered at the family tomb to lay a wreath and listen to a reading of the poem “A Psalm of Life".
With unseasonably warm weather, a nice array of activities, and a throng of Longfellow enthusiasts, this year’s birthday celebration was especially lively and joyous.
Tags: henry wadsworth longfellow mount auburn cemetery literature native american history
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
