Gore Vidal Will Join Many Notables at Rock Creek Cemetery
The writer, who passed away this week, will be buried at the cemetery alongside Teddy Roosevelt’s daughter and the creator of Wonder Bread, among others.
Rock Creek Cemetery. Photograph courtesy of Flickr user sdixclifford.
Family members have not yet set a date for the funeral of writer Gore Vidal, who grew up in Washington and died this week at his home in Hollywood. What is known
is that he will be buried at Rock Creek Cemetery in a plot that will be shared with
his longtime romantic partner, Howard Austen, who died in 2003. Also, it is near the grave of Jimmie Trimble, his St. Albans classmate and apparent high school crush, and reportedly the reason
Vidal chose this particular cemetery. But beyond those two men who meant so much to
him, Vidal will be keeping company in death with a wide range of notables.
One Washington insider noted today that as far as cemeteries go, “once upon a time,
Rock Creek was the place to be. Gawler’s
practically ran a shuttle service.” He said anybody who was anybody wanted to be buried
at Rock Creek.
According to the cemetery’s website, the “residents” include Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, who died in 1980; the creator of Wonder
Bread, Charles Corby (1926); and Gilbert H. Grosvenor, the mastermind of the National Geographic Society and its magazine (1966). Others
include Sumner Welles (1961), a patrician diplomat who served his friend President Franklin D. Roosevelt
as undersecretary of State; Harlan Fiske Stone (1946), a Supreme Court justice who also served as dean of the Columbia University
law school; Montgomery Blair (1883), who was President Abraham Lincoln’s postmaster general; and founding father
Abraham Baldwin (1807), who, in addition to being a signer of the Constitution, also served as a
Georgia congressman and senator and as president of the University of Georgia.
There are others: Tran Van Chuong (1986), whom Ngo Dinh Diem appointed as Vietnamese ambassador to Washington; and Pulitzer-winning author Upton Sinclair (1968). Actor Robert Prosky, who died in 2008, made Washington his home while enjoying a thriving career as a
character actor in films (The Natural, Broadcast News) and TV (Hill Street Blues) and theater, particularly Arena Stage. Melville Bell (1905), the father of Alexander Graham Bell, is buried there; as is Patricia Roberts Harris (1985), who, as President Jimmy Carter’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development,
was the first African-American woman to serve in the Cabinet.
Rock Creek Cemetery is also noted for its attractive monuments by sculptors including
James Earle Fraser, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, William Ordway Partridge, and Gutzon Borglum,
who, interestingly, created the heads of the Presidents at Mount Rushmore. The cemetery
is owned by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, and the first burials date back to the mid-18th
century. It is located at Rock Creek Church Road and Webster Place, Northwest, and
is open daily from 8 AM until 6 PM.
Gore Vidal Will Join Many Notables at Rock Creek Cemetery
The writer, who passed away this week, will be buried at the cemetery alongside Teddy Roosevelt’s daughter and the creator of Wonder Bread, among others.
Family members have not yet set a date for the funeral of writer
Gore Vidal, who grew up in Washington and died this week at his home in Hollywood. What is known
is that he will be buried at Rock Creek Cemetery in a plot that will be shared with
his longtime romantic partner,
Howard Austen, who died in 2003. Also, it is near the grave of
Jimmie Trimble, his St. Albans classmate and apparent high school crush, and reportedly the reason
Vidal chose this particular cemetery. But beyond those two men who meant so much to
him, Vidal will be keeping company in death with a wide range of notables.
One Washington insider noted today that as far as cemeteries go, “once upon a time,
Rock Creek was the place to be. Gawler’s
practically ran a shuttle service.” He said anybody who was anybody wanted to be buried
at Rock Creek.
According to the cemetery’s website, the “residents” include
Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, who died in 1980; the creator of Wonder
Bread,
Charles Corby (1926); and
Gilbert H. Grosvenor, the mastermind of the National Geographic Society and its magazine (1966). Others
include
Sumner Welles (1961), a patrician diplomat who served his friend President Franklin D. Roosevelt
as undersecretary of State;
Harlan Fiske Stone (1946), a Supreme Court justice who also served as dean of the Columbia University
law school;
Montgomery Blair (1883), who was President Abraham Lincoln’s postmaster general; and founding father
Abraham Baldwin (1807), who, in addition to being a signer of the Constitution, also served as a
Georgia congressman and senator and as president of the University of Georgia.
There are others:
Tran Van Chuong (1986), whom
Ngo Dinh Diem appointed as Vietnamese ambassador to Washington; and Pulitzer-winning author
Upton Sinclair (1968). Actor
Robert Prosky, who died in 2008, made Washington his home while enjoying a thriving career as a
character actor in films (The Natural,
Broadcast News) and TV (Hill Street Blues) and theater, particularly Arena Stage.
Melville Bell (1905), the father of Alexander Graham Bell, is buried there; as is
Patricia Roberts Harris (1985), who, as President Jimmy Carter’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development,
was the first African-American woman to serve in the Cabinet.
Rock Creek Cemetery is also noted for its attractive monuments by sculptors including
James Earle Fraser, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, William Ordway Partridge, and Gutzon Borglum,
who, interestingly, created the heads of the Presidents at Mount Rushmore. The cemetery
is owned by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, and the first burials date back to the mid-18th
century. It is located at Rock Creek Church Road and Webster Place, Northwest, and
is open daily from 8 AM until 6 PM.
Most Popular in News & Politics
Sandwich Guy Has Become DC’s Hero
How Washingtonians Can Run, March, and Rally Against the Trump Administration Takeover
Pirro’s Office Fails to Get Indictment Against Sandwich Guy
DC’s Police Union Head Is the Biggest Cheerleader of Trump’s DC Police Takeover
Health Officials Flee CDC After White House Fires Director, Tensions Between Parents and ICE Erupt in Mount Pleasant, and There’s a New Red Panda
Washingtonian Magazine
September Issue: Style Setters
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
These Confusing Bands Aren’t Actually From DC
Fiona Apple Wrote a Song About This Maryland Court-Watching Effort
The Confusing Dispute Over the Future of the Anacostia Playhouse
Protecting Our Drinking Water Keeps Him Up at Night
More from News & Politics
Why Trump Should Not Dine Out in DC
DC Sues Trump Administration Over Deployment of National Guard Troops
In Wild Coincidence, White House Drowns Out Epstein Rally With Jets; Tech Titans Will Gather on Rose Garden Patio Tonight; and Madison Cawthorn Hopes to Return to DC
The “MAGA Former Dancer” Named to a Top Job at the Kennedy Center Inherits a Troubled Program
Epstein Survivors Will Rally in DC Today, Trump Denies That He Has Died, and Someone Is Dotting Capitol Hill Trees With Bananas
We’re Calling It Now: Sandwich Guy Is the DC Halloween Costume of the Year
No Phones Allowed at This New DC Bar. Seriously.
Trump Defies Internet Sleuths by Posting Furiously About Hulk Hogan and Other Stuff, Rudy Giuliani to Receive Nation’s Highest Civilian Honor, and Chester the Toucan Got Rescued in Arlington