Virtual Tour: Women of Graceland Cemetery

Want some ideas for new statues?
Historically, most of the biggest, most impressive monuments in American cemeteries have been built by brewers, lumber merchants, steel barons, and real estate moguls. But there are far more stories at Chicago's Graceland Cemetery than just those movers and shakers. Some of those industrialists and politicians had daughters who set the city on fire with their scandalous novels, or wives who were attacked as "intolerant abolitionists" by anti-Lincoln newspapers. Some of the most incredible stories are in unmarked graves! As Chicago thinks of new ideas for public statues, there are some good possibilities here...
Tour guide Adam Selzer is the author of Mysterious Chicago, HH: Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil, and many other Chicago history books. He has been running hilarious and informative Graceland tours for years, and is now at work on a new "Who's Who" book about the cemetery (due out in 2021 from University of IL press). In the livestreamed tours, he endeavors to show monuments and routes that are rarely or never seen on the in-person tours.
This no-audience tour (safely socially distant) will focus on the women interred at Graceland. Among the thousands of incredible women here are authors, war heroes, reformers, artists, organizers, eccentrics, at least one actual princess, and just MAYBE even a witch. Some of them seem as though the SHOULD be famous. The picture above is the Getty tomb, built for Henry Getty, a lumber man, and designed by Louis Sullivan. His daughter, Alice Getty, was a composer, author, publisher and expert on Buddhist art whose manuscript about life in a Japanese monastery is thought to have been destroyed by nazis before it could be published.
And, yes, we know it's a bit incongrous to have a guy running this tour, but we're a one-person operation here.
The tour will be livestreamed via Facebook live on the Mysterious Chicago Facebook Page. To join in, all you have to do is be on the page a bit before 10am central time (if you want practice or to make sure your setup works, there are short "mini tours" broadcast almost daily at 10am). It's free, but donations are suggested (via this page, or venmo adamchicago, paypal adam@mysteriouschicago.com- or join the new Patreon for more cool Chicago History stuff! )

HOW TO WATCH - it's easy!
- The event will be broadcast live via Facebook Live on the Mysterious Chicago facebook page. ( http://www.facebook.com/mysteriouschicago
)
- ALL YOU HAVE TO DO is be on that page after the broadcast starts (we usually start shortly before the scheduled start time and give people a few minutes to join in), then click “play” on the video. You won't need a code or to log in.
- If you “like” the Mysterious Chicago page you can set it to notify you when the page starts broadcasting! And if you want practice, or to make sure it works on your system, we broadcast “mini tours”� nearly every day at 10am central.
-The event is free to watch. No tickets or codes will be required. Donations are suggested either via this page, venmo (adamchicago), paypal (adam@mysteriouschicago.com) or by joining patreon.com/adamchicago.
- If you miss it, never fear - it'll be on the "videos" section of the facebook page for some time after the live broadcast.
If you aren't familiar with Facebook live and can't seem to get it to work, here are some trouble shooting tips:
- There is no special code or special link, and you won't be asked for a ticket. Just be on the main Mysterious Chicago Facebook page. (not the event page or an old post, just regular old http://facebook.com/mysteriouschicago
)
- If you are on the site and don’t see “Happening Now”� or “Mysterious Chicago is Live”� try refreshing and scrolling down a bit. Or restarting your app.
- Similarly, if you're watching and it freezes or you lose the audio, refresh the page or restart your app.
- And make sure you’re not mistaking the date or time zone! We regularly get comments from people who are trying to watch on the wrong date or time. All times are central.
- Note that clicking “follow”� on the eventbrite page only means that you’re now following this company on eventbrite, and will get notices about new event postings. The button doesn’t do anything particular to the event. You don’t have to push it.
- If none of this works for you, you may have connection, device or settings issues. Consult facebook.com/help.
Under Section 4-156-720 of the Municipal Code of Chicago, this performing arts venue (broadcast) may not charge an admission fee, minimum purchase requirement, membership fee, or other fee or charge imposed for the privilege of entering the premises (broadcast). Any donations are purely voluntary.