Daily Cemetery Walks

This fall Jeffrey and I started taking daily morning walks at the local cemetery, which holds quite a few notable burials. A few weeks ago, we finally looked into a mausoleum that caught my attention for its architectural details.

Lo and behold, it was a tomb of two Titanic survivors. In my mind that would be enough to awe as our kids were always totally obsessed with all things Titanic, but these survivors were not just anybody. It was the American millionaire Mrs. Charlotte Drake Cardeza and her son Thomas who occupied the largest and most expensive suites on the Titanic (B51-53-55). They even had their own fifty foot promenade. She, her son, and their entourage left the sinking ship in Lifeboat 3. She also submitted the most extensive claim worth close to $4.5 million in today's money.

The Drake Mausoleum

Interestingly, she twice circumnavigated the world in her own yacht called the Eleanor. And today the Charlotte Drake Cardeza Foundation for Hematological Research is a world renowned facility that leads research and has made breakthroughs in the study of hemophilia, leukemia, and HIV.

As Jeffrey and I explore more of the cemetery, we are learning more about its architecture and symbolism. The mausoleum had been catching my eye as the building itself combines Egyptian and Greek elements. The winged solar disk is placed over the door to spread its protection over the tomb. The entrance, the front and sides of the building are adorned with what I believe is Plume Thistle flowers that grow along the banks of the Nile river. When I walked around the building it felt like these thistles are brushing along the building with its height and power. Perhaps most fascinating elements are the four winged statues. Perhaps those are the ancient Greek (not Egyptian) Sphinx that consists of a female monster with the body of a lion, the head and breast of a woman and eagle's wings and perhaps a serpent's tail. As they guard each side of the building, which is tucked into a rocky landscape that resemble an island, one can truly envision these fabulous winged creatures as sirens who lure sailors to their doom with their sweet songs. 

Lastly, the bodies and the entire mausoleum was dismantled, moved from Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia and reconstructed at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd. 

And as a final thought, it is unnerving to know that there are a few individuals that held and hold this amount of wealth but that is a totally different conversation to have.

There is a wonderful article really closely describing Charlotte and her family's whereabouts. 

Inside of the Mausoleum