Events
Visitors are welcome to step back into history and experience eighty acres of stately trees and statuary in the beautiful blend of nature and art that is Elmwood Cemetery.
Please come by the Victorian Carpenter Gothic Cottage which serves as our Visitor Center for maps, audio tours, picnic tables and handicap accessible restrooms. Research assistance is also available in the cottage, and security is on the grounds during business hours.
There is no charge to visit Elmwood.
A Book Reading with Molly Caldwell Crosby
Molly Crosby is a journalist and author. Her first book The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic That Shaped Our History was published in November 2006. The New York Times hailed it as a "first-rate medical detective drama," and Newsweek called it "gripping...highly readable." Please join Crosby as she reads from her latest work, due out in May 2010, titled "Asleep: The Forgotten Epidemic that Remains One of Medicine's Greatest Mysteries." Advance registration is required for this event. Admission is $25 per person. Wine & hors d'oeuvres will be served. Starts at 6:00 p.m.
Public Docent Tour
For more than a decade the volunteer Elmwood docents have led tours of the cemetery grounds. These walking tours are open to the public. Tours leave the Cottage at 10:30 a.m. and last about 90 minutes. The cost is $10/person and no advance registration is required. We recommend weather-appropriate clothing and sturdy walking shoes for this tour.
Voices of Yellow Fever: An Evening Presentation
Visit Elmwood on the evening of September 9th and see the Elmwood players tell the stories of yellow fever. A home cooked meal prepared by the staff will be served. This event begins at 6 PM and lasts about two hours.
Voices of Yellow Fever
September 9th is Yellow Fever Memorial Day in the city of Memphis. The fever (also known as Yellow Jack, the American Plague and the Saffron Knight) decimated the city of Memphis for much of the 1870's. So many died of the fever or fled the city that the city lost its charter, becoming a taxing district under Nashville. This plague would claim enumerable lives. Many of the individuals who tried to help stop the scourge of yellow fever rest at Elmwood. Join the "Elmwood Players" as they present a first-person narrative account of what life was like during the yellow fever. You'll meet costumed characters with stories that will leave you breathless.
Lunch is served with this event ON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH, which begins at noon in the Chapel. The cost is $12/person.
Public Docent Walking Tour
For more than a decade, the volunteer Elmwood docents have led tours of the cemetery grounds. These all-walking tours are open to the public. Tours leave the Cottage at 10:30 a.m. and last about 90 minutes. The cost is $10/person and no advance registration is required. We recommend weather-appropriate clothing and sturdy walking shoes for this tour.
Dining with the Dead: Supper At Elmwood
Enjoy a catered dinner in the Chapel at Elmwood with an hour-long flashlit walking tour of the grounds to follow the meal.
Beverages, including wine, will be served at this event. Vegetarian options will be made available.
The cost per person is $45. Advance registration is required as there is limited seating available at each seating.
This listing is for the 5:30 seating.
Dining with the Dead: Supper at Elmwood
Enjoy a catered dinner in the Chapel at Elmwood with an hour-long flashlit walking tour of the grounds to follow the meal.
Beverages, including wine, will be served at the event. Vegetarian options will be made available.
The cost per person is $45. Advance registration is required as there is limited seating available at each seating.
This listing is for the 7:00 p.m. seating.
Funeral Folklore & Legends
There are many superstitions that once abounded in the act of burying loved ones. Why did people once stop clocks when a family member passed away? Why were the mirrors covered? Why did mourners once walk in a zig-zag pattern through the cemetery to the grave site? How did the advent of funeral homes change the grieving process? We invite you to join Elmwood's Executive Director Kimberly McCollum as she investigates these strange customs, and more.
Lunch is served with this event. Begins at noon in the Chapel. The cost is $12/person.
Costume Twilight Tour
This all-walking tour through Elmwood has been revamped and is beginning earlier this year! Tours will begin at 3:00 p.m. and the last tour will begin at 6:00 p.m. Tickets for this event are $13 per adult and $5 per child. If you have never visited Elmwood, this tour is the best way to get to know the cemetery and the individuals who rest here. Costumed characters portraying Elmwood residents will introduce you to the history of Memphis' oldest active cemetery.
For our mobility-impaired visitors, we recommend that you call ahead and speak with Jody Schmidt or Kimberly McCollum regarding tour route information.
Tree Tour of Elmwood
Elmwood is home to almost 1,500 trees. Many of these trees are tagged, but there's so much more to know about a tree than its scientific and common name. Some of the trees that live in Elmwood are older than the cemetery! Join staff horticulturist Kim Rucker as she leads a tree tour of the cemetery grounds. Cost for the tour is $5 per person. The tour begins at 10:30 a.m.