“Grace Goodhue Coolidge.” Howard Chandler Christy, 1924. White House Collection/White House Historical Association.
Calvin Coolidge and his wife Grace were animal lovers. They owned several dogs, cats, canaries, and even a raccoon. They also received animals as gifts from other countries, which they often kept at the White House. Some, such as a black bear and wallaby, were sent to the National Zoo to be raised.
Calvin Coolidge’s favorite dog was a white collie named Rob Roy. He was prominently featured in First Lady Grace Coolidge’s official portrait, painted by Howard Chandler Christy in 1924. This painting still hangs in the White House China Room, which was decorated in a shade of red that matched her dress. Continue reading Presidential Animal Lovers Calvin and Grace Coolidge→
Actress Louise Brooks, the quintessential flapper of the 1920s. Library of Congress, George Grantham Bain Collection, Call Number: LC-B2- 5474-15 [P&P].Aspin Hill Cemetery for Pet Animals was begun in 1920, the first year of the decade of the flapper. A flapper was a young woman who flouted convention by wearing short skirts and bobbing her hair. She was often seen in wearing a cloche hat and galoshes. Sometimes, her behavior might be considered risqué, but this was not necessarily so. At Aspin Hill Kennels, Bertha Birney named one of her female Boston terriers “Aspen Hill Flapper.” In a 1923 issue of Dog Fancier, it was reported that Aspen Hill Flapper was making quite an impression at dog shows all along the East Coast. Continue reading Aspin Hill Flapper→
Bugler salutes Rickey during his funeral at Aspin Hill Pet Cemetery. Evening Star, June 6, 1948
Military honors for the funeral of a dog are rare, but that’s what happened in 1948, when Admiral Richard E. Byrd’s most famous sled dog was buried at Aspin Hill Pet Cemetery.
Rickey, a Labrador husky, was born in 1934 at Little America, an exploration base on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. He left the frigid continent, at the age of nine months, in the company of his owner, Lt. Comdr. Frederick Dustin (USNR). The pair made two return trips to Antarctica in 1939 and 1947. Continue reading Rickey, Admiral Byrd’s Sled Dog→
Rags, War Hero. 1st Division Mascot, WW I. Aspin Hill Memorial Park.
There’s a granite stone at Aspin Hill Memorial Park which marks the grave of a dog named Rags who is dubbed a “War Hero” and “1st Division Mascot WW I.” I wondered how this dog became a war hero, but I didn’t wonder for long. The tale of Rags is one of the best documented of the pet cemetery stories. Continue reading Rags, War Hero→
When a monument to a pet includes the figure of a dog, it pulls at my heart just a little bit harder. These are the best of the dog statues in Aspin Hill Memorial Park.
Skippy, a Boston terrier (May 2013)
I took this photo in May 2013, around the time I first started photographing around Aspin Hill Memorial Park. Lately, there’s been a bone between Skippy’s two paws. I’m sure he’d have loved that. Continue reading Dog Statues in Aspin Hill Memorial Park→
Here are two grave stones that have me stumped. I have been unable to find the stories behind them, despite the specific details that the pets’ owners had inscribed on their memorials. I’ll post them here in the hope that someone may know their stories and share them with me. Failing that, let us read these memorials and be heartened by the knowledge that our animal friends are capable of heroism.
Jockey, Gordon Setter, Fire Hero of Belle Harbor. Aspin Hill Memorial Park.
Metal plaque on concrete of a Boston terrier. Lettering above reads “Lest We Forget.” Aspin Hill Memorial Park.
I love this simple grave stone. There is no name or date on it, so I have no story to tell you. It appears to be cast concrete. Above the portrait of the Boston terrier, there is a motto, spelled out in metal letters pressed into the concrete: Lest We Forget. It’s a simple reminder of what Aspin Hill — or any cemetery — is about: the loving remembrance of those who have enriched our lives and are now gone.
Pal, Scotch collie of Eric Matus. Aspin Hill Memorial Park.
Get out your hankies, because this is one sad story. On a lovely Sunday morning in August 1928, Eric and Alvina Matus of Capitol Heights, Maryland went on a boating trip on the Potomac. They and another couple were fishing from a skiff near Colonial Beach, Virginia when they capsized. The couple with them were rescued by nearby fishermen, but the Matuses disappeared in sixty feet of water. Days later, their bodies were recovered. Continue reading This Ever Faithful Barking Ghost→
J. Edna Hoover. Hartsdale Pet Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York.
One of the delights of visiting a pet cemetery is reading all the interesting, heart-warming, and funny names people give their pets. Last week, I showed you the tombstone of J. Edgar Hoover’s dog, Spee De Bozo. Now meet J. Edna Hoover, an English bulldog buried in Hartsdale Pet Cemetery in New York. I wonder if the owners really admired the FBI director, or if this was their way of mocking him?
Inscription:
J. Edna "Hoover"
The Greatest Little Girl
To Walk
This Earth
On Two Or Four Legs.
Keep Watching Over Me
Location:
Hartsdale Pet Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York
Spee De Bozo, J. Edgar Hoover’s Airedale. Aspin Hill Memorial Park.
J. Edgar Hoover was, among other things, devoted to his dogs. His first, Spee De Bozo, was so beloved that Hoover kept his photograph on his desk at work. When Spee De Bozo died in 1934, Hoover buried him in Aspin Hill Memorial Park. Accompanied by three of his aides, he watched as his beloved Airedale was lowered into the ground. He told the cemetery groundskeeper, “This is one of the saddest days of my life.” Continue reading J. Edgar Hoover’s Dogs→
![Actress Louise Brooks, the quintessential flapper of the 1920s. Library of Congress, George Grantham Bain Collection, Call Number: LC-B2- 5474-15 [P&P].](https://petcemeterystories.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/FlapperLouiseBrooks_32453v.jpg)
