Forest Hills Cemetery Still Denies Public Access to Its Sprawling Green Space

For so many, burial grounds are for loss and heartache, but in Jamaica Plain, the cemetery was for the living too. For hundreds of years, the historic 275 acre Forest Hills Cemetery has held more than just graves. The cemetery contained beautiful forests, gardens, sculptures, and ponds which were all accessible for the public to enjoy. The Cemetery earned a place in the National Register of Historic Places in 2004, was considered a jewel on Boston’s emerald necklace, and a key part of the community. If you look at the news column on their website from a few years ago, it boasts winning the Community Service Awards at the African American Ball held in Roxbury. Now, all that’s up there is a notice telling people to stop coming to look at the owls nesting. Times have changed.

On May 26, 2020, turnaround CEO George H Milley declared a new stream of regulations on the Forest Hills Cemetery’s website, almost entirely cutting off the community from the grounds. These new laws prohibited running, biking, and dog walking on site in the name of creating a respectful cemetery environment. Additionally, cemetery officials limited visiting hours to business day hours (which means people in the community aren’t able to visit after work), blocked up community entrances, and increased paroling cemetery officials — even warning the public that they would be forcibly removed if they disobeyed. This ended most connections the public had to the green space.

Following these decisions, there was justified pushback from the community who could no longer access the grounds. That same year a petition was started to advocate for community access. Since, the petition has gained over 1,800 signatures — asking for the cemetery to remove the restrictions for the sake of “community and gratitude” (via Jamaica Plain Gazette). Many people that signed the petition believed that it would be an injustice to deny access to such a beautiful place that was meant for visitors to enjoy. As reported by the Boston Herald, petition signers emphasized how close they had felt to the grounds and how important the graveyard was to their daily lives. (They also pointed out that they had never seen any disrespectful behavior from visitors.) Although this petition was presented to cemetery officials, they remained unwavering in their decisions.

In 2020, Jamaica Plain Gazette documented how City Councilor Matt O’Malley listened to the frustration of the community and attempted to be in conversation with Milley as to how the park could remain open to the public. However, he was rudely declined and no real changes were made by the cemetery.

To this day, the Forest Hills Cemetery and its beautiful openspace remains inaccessible to the public. Historic graves — including abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison, the famous poet e.e cummings, or the first female American composer Amy Beach — remain with no one to witness. Paths that were once walked daily now only see the occasional parol car. No one comes around to watch the swans in the pond or look for the owls in the old growth trees. A cemetery that was once alive lies quiet and dead.