You and all members of the Johns Hopkins community are invited to the 20th annual graveside observance honoring and thanking our founder, Mr. Johns Hopkins.
The brief ceremony will take place at his grave in Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore at 10 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 24. That will be the 145th anniversary of his death.
Mr. Hopkins left $7 million in his will to establish a university and hospital in Baltimore. They revolutionized higher education and health care and evolved into the worldwide Johns Hopkins institutions we know today.
The program Our Christmas Eve observance will be led by university Vice President and Secretary Emeritus Ross Jones. It will include informal remembrances of Mr. Hopkins and presentation of a memorial wreath.
Speaking this year will be Rooney Peterson, who has developed her interest in Johns Hopkins history during 20 years as a volunteer at the Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives. She spent 25 years working as a health care administrator and consultant, most of those years at Johns Hopkins. You may also know her as the spouse of Ron Peterson, president emeritus of the Johns Hopkins Health System and former executive vice president of Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Afterwards Immediately after the observance, please visit Clifton Mansion, Mr. Hopkins' summer home, for refreshments, tours, and holiday decorations. Clifton is at 2701 St. Lo Drive, less than 2 miles from Green Mount Cemetery. Your host for the reception is Civic Works, the nonprofit social services organization that now occupies and is restoring the mansion.
Note: Important one-year change The main gate of Green Mount Cemetery is under construction, so this year we will use an alternate gate. To reach the gravesite, enter at the small gate along Greenmount Avenue about 100 yards south of North Avenue. (It's across the street from where Lafayette Avenue intersects with Greenmount.)
Drive straight up the hill until you reach a circle with an obelisk in the middle. Go around the circle and take the first right. That road will take you on a winding route through the cemetery until you see, on your left, the A.S. Abell grave with the transparent cover. Park there and then walk along the road to the right of Abell's grave, where you will find our gathering.
For information, contact me at dro@jhu.edu or 443-997-9912 (cellphone on Dec. 24: 410-499-7460).
Sincerely,
Dennis O'Shea Office of Communications The Johns Hopkins University
