History of Burial Traditions

Learn about the history of burial traditions as viewed through Milwaukee’s oldest operating cemetery. Take a tour with the education director of the Forest Home Historic Preservation Association, Sara Tomlin, and the Cemetery’s sales manager, Kevin Rutherford. Visit the home of Forest Home’s first burial in 1850, see inside the upper Midwest’s first crematory built in 1896 and finish with Milwaukee’s only non-denominational Natural Burial area. This tour will take you through centuries of different burial practices, and you can see how tastes have changed over the years and how cemeteries have adapted. This will be a 1.5-hour walking tour over uneven ground.