Forest Lawn Cemetery is proud to welcome Allison Meier as the keynote speaker for our 175th anniversary celebration!

Although people have always cared for their dead, what a grave looks like has radically changed over time, from simple interments in the ground to elaborate mausolea. Since Forest Lawn opened 175 years ago, there have been changes in this final statement, including the personalization of memorial markers and the rise of cremation. Allison C. Meier, author of Grave (Bloomsbury, 2023), explores this history and the ways the grave is still changing in her research, writing, and time as a cemetery tour guide.

Author’s remarks at the Buffalo History Museum will be complemented by a VIP trolley tour with Meier in Forest Lawn. The tour will highlight burial sites relating to and contextualizing the themes of the talk. Even if you are a Forest Lawn regular, on this tour participants will consider what the grave has been and what it could be through visits to grand, curious, humble, and inventive memorials across the cemetery.

Allison C. Meier is an Oklahoma-born, Brooklyn-based writer, editor, and researcher focused on visual culture, architecture, and overlooked history. She believes in writing about the arts and heritage of our world in an accessible, engaging way. Her recent book is called Grave (2023, Bloomsbury) and is in the Object Lessons book series. Allison is currently the editor of Fine Books & Collections magazine and is a research associate with the American Folk Art Museum. She was previously a staff writer at Hyperallergic and the senior editor at Atlas Obscura. Her bylines are extensive and include the New York Times, National Geographic, and Smithsonian Magazine. Allison is also a licensed New York City sightseeing guide and moonlights as a cemetery tour guide at New York burial grounds.

Event Location & Ticketing Information

The lecture will take place at the Buffalo History Museum (1 Museum Ct., Buffalo, NY 14216) from 10:30 am-12 pm, followed by an opportunity for book purchase and signing by the author.

Ticket Options

Lecture Only | $25

Lecture + VIP Trolley Tour | $125: Following the lecture, ticket holders will be provided a boxed lunch and will then board Forest Lawn’s trolley at the History Museum for a tour of the cemetery from 1-3pm, led by Allison Meier, and Forest Lawn’s Director of Community Engagement, Amizetta Haj. The Trolley will then take passengers back to the History Museum at the conclusion of the tour.

Advance registration for the Keynote and the Keynote/Trolley Tour is required as space is limited.

Many thanks to an anonymous Forest Lawn Heritage Foundation donor for their support of Forest Lawn’s 175th Anniversary Keynote Address.