Friends of
Bohemian National Cemetery
About Friends of Bohemian National Cemetery
Friends of Bohemian National Cemetery is a 501(c)(3) and is a separate and independent organization from The Bohemian National Cemetery Association which operates the cemetery .
Our Mission is to promote the historical significance, enhance the beauty, and preserve the artistic heritage of Bohemian National Cemetery and create an appreciation of the cemetery in local, national and international audiences.
Friends has regular meetings with educational programs and publishes a quarterly newsletter, Heritage Happenings. Friends also raises funds for the restoration and preservation of Bohemian National Cemetery.
You can support Friends mission by becoming a member, or making a donation.
Read the Chicago Tribune profile of Friends President Marge Stueckemann
About the Bohemian National Cemetery
At a mass meeting of the more than 20 Czech benevolent, fraternal, workingman's, gymnastic, and freethinkers societies on January 7th, 1877, Frantisek Zdrubek called on all Chicago societies to come together and create a "free national cemetery, where any Czech could be buried without regard to religion."
April 11, 1877 the Illinois Secretary of State issued the charter
for the Bohemian National Cemetery Association articles of incorporation. According
to this document the purpose of the Association was to provide suitable burial
site for persons of Bohemian birth or extraction.
The cemetery is now open to
people of all ethnicities and religions.
Spanning about 125 acres, Bohemian National Cemetery has been called a beautiful Garden of the Dead , is a Chicago landmark and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. Rich with both aestheic and genealogical information, the cemetery is the final resting place for nearly 120,000 people.
