Hillside Cemetery chapel will host historical lecture

HOLLEY – Genesee Community College history professor Derek Maxfield will bring to an end the month-long series of events on “Hillside Heritage” with a lecture on Monday at Hillside Cemetery in Holley.

Maxfield will discuss “Victorian Death and the Civil War.” The events at the cemetery, including three public lectures and a very successful ghost walk, are part of an initiative to bring more attention to the plight of the Gothic Revival chapel at the cemetery, which was completed in 1894.

Derek Maxfield

Efforts are underway to raise funds to restore the beautiful Medina sandstone building designed by Rochester architect Addison Forbes. The chapel and cemetery are included on the National Register of Historic Places.

The lecture on Monday will combine two of Maxfield’s research interests in one talk – Victorian culture and the Civil War. By 1861, Victorian culture with its many social rules dominated American society and set the standards of conduct for the ladies and gentlemen of the era.

These same social mores played an important role in bringing about the great war between the states. But the war far exceeded what the Victorians or anyone else expected bringing a cataclysm of suffering and death that would change values and culture profoundly.

The Monday lecture will begin at 7 p.m. in the chapel at Hillside Cemetery. In keeping with the season, the lecture will be delivered without the aid of any technology and the chapel will be lit with only oil lamps and candles – producing an appropriately spooky effect. While the lecture is free, donations to the chapel restoration fund will be gladly accepted.