December 13, 2010

Graveside remembrance of Mr. Hopkins to be held Dec. 24

Members of the Johns Hopkins community will gather this month for the annual graveside commemoration of the founder of the university and hospital that bear his name.

All are invited to the brief, informal ceremony at Johns Hopkins’ grave in Green Mount Cemetery at 10 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 24. It will be the 137th anniversary of his death.

Mr. Hopkins left $7 million in his will, at that time the largest philanthropic bequest in U.S. history, to establish a university and hospital in Baltimore that have evolved into the worldwide Johns Hopkins Institutions we know today.

The ceremony is arranged by university Vice President and Secretary Emeritus Ross Jones. He will also be this year’s speaker, offering remarks on the historical context of Mr. Hopkins’ last years.

To reach the gravesite, enter the cemetery at the main gate along Greenmount Avenue, about five blocks south of North Avenue; drive straight up the hill and park near the crest.

To read Mr. Hopkins’ obituary from the Dec. 25, 1873, edition of The Baltimore Sun, go to www.jhu.edu/125th/links/obit.html.