Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Awards $500K to Green-Wood

The Green-Wood Historic Fund, the educational and cultural arm of The Green-Wood Cemetery, has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation for the Cemetery’s upcoming Education & Welcome Center. The funds will specifically be used to support the Center for Research within the new structure.

“The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation is proud to support The Green-Wood Cemetery's forthcoming Education & Welcome Center in keeping with our commitment to preserve and illuminate the rich tapestry of history in New York,” said Kathryn Curran, executive director of the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation. “This initiative marks a significant milestone in Green-Wood's journey to become a hub for groundbreaking exploration in history and the humanities. By opening the doors to their unique and voluminous yet relatively unknown primary source documents, the Center for Research will play a pivotal role in advancing Green-Wood's stature as a history-based institution.”

“We thank the Gardiner Foundation for this generous grant, which enables the realization of the next step in Green-Wood’s growth,” said Richard J. Moylan, President of The Green-Wood Cemetery. “Notably, the Center for Research will give scholars and researchers unprecedented access to Green-Wood's institutional records, which will now be publicly available for the first time in over 185 years.”

When completed in 2025, the Education & Welcome Center will offer Green-Wood’s 400,000+ annual visitors a welcoming space where they can get an introduction to the historic cemetery before exploring the grounds. The space will also house two exhibition galleries; expanded space for Green-Wood’s robust platform of educational events and programs; a classroom; the Center for Research; and meeting and event space for local nonprofits and community organizations. Offices for staff will occupy the second floor. Significantly, this indoor space allows Green-Wood to expand its programming to a year-round schedule. The sustainable design will provide efficiency in water use, a high-performing thermal envelope, low-energy lighting, and environmentally controlled storage for Green-Wood’s invaluable archival documents, some of which date back to 1838. The Gardiner Foundation’s funds will augment funding Green-Wood has also received from New York State, New York City, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and private funders and donors. Notably, funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities has also supported two earlier projects at Green-Wood to evaluate and digitize portions of the cemetery’s archival records.

Established in 1987, the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation primarily supports the study of New York State history. Robert David Lion Gardiner was, until his death in August 2004, the 16th Lord of the Manor of Gardiner's Island, NY. The Gardiner family and their descendants have owned Gardiner's Island since 1639, obtained as part of a royal grant from King Charles I of England. The Foundation is inspired by Robert David Lion Gardiner's personal passion for New York history. For more information, please visit www.rdlgfoundation.org.

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About Green-Wood: Established in 1838, The Green-Wood Cemetery, a National Historic Landmark, is recognized as one of the world’s most beautiful cemeteries. As the permanent residence of over 570,000 individuals, Green-Wood’s magnificent grounds, grand architecture, and world-class statuary have made it a destination for half a million visitors annually, including national and international tourists, New Yorkers, and Brooklynites. At the same time, Green-Wood is also an outdoor museum, an arboretum, and a repository of history. Throughout the year, it offers innovative programs in arts and culture, nature and the environment, education, workforce development, restoration, and research, as well as bold initiatives in climate resiliency and sustainability. For more information, please visit www.green-wood.com.