See the exhibit, included with Admission to the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum in Baltimore!

November 17, 2025 will mark the 150th anniversary of when Edgar Allan Poe’s grave memorial monument was erected at Westminster Hall & Burying Ground. See a special exhibit of original illustrations created by Poe House featured artist Jason Strutz to commemorate the United States’ first monument to an American writer. Includes mobile app access to an exhibit featuring special artifacts and history courtesy of The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore. Included with admission to the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum.

“WRITTEN IN STONE: 150 Years of the Poe Monument” Original Art and virtual exhibit

Edgar Allan Poe died under mysterious circumstances and was buried in 1849 in a hasty, unmarked grave in the back corner of Westminster Burying Ground in Baltimore—an ignominious ending for a storyteller whose life and writing shocked the world. In true Poe fashion, the story doesn’t end with the body in the ground. Nearly 30 years later, his grave forgotten and untended, a Baltimore schoolteacher and her students took it upon themselves to rewrite Poe’s story. With pennies, persistence, and the power of public sentiment, they raised the funds to build a proper monument—though not without controversy, complications, and no shortage of gothic drama. Even famed poets Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Walt Whitman weighed in, drawn into the literary storm surrounding Poe’s legacy. Over time, the once-overlooked grave became a pilgrimage site for fans, scholars, and the mysterious figure known only as the Poe Toaster, who for decades left cryptic tributes in the dead of night.

Visit Poe House to see original illustrations by Poe House featured artist, Jason Strutz, created for “Written In Stone: 150 Years of the Poe Exhibit” commemorating the 150th anniversary of Poe’s monument, the extraordinary events that brought it to fruition, and the eerie tales that followed. In the virtual app, explore rarely seen artifacts from Poe’s second funeral (and third burial!), including the original 1875 ceremony program, accounts of mislaid bones, and unsettling claims that the wrong man lies beneath the stone. Learn about the many cenotaphs that were proposed and abandoned, and the strange posthumous journey of Poe’s wife, Virginia—her remains shut in a box and kept under a bed for years before she was finally reburied beside her darling “Eddie,” a tale as haunting as any he ever wrote.

Written In Stone unearths 150 years of strange stories, shifting memory, and the enduring question: how do we honor a man whose life—and death—remain forever shrouded in mystery?

Exhibits presented by Poe Baltimore and The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, at the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum in Baltimore. Included with admission!

TICKETS

150th Anniversary Commemoratives

Commemorate 150 years of Poe’s Baltimore Monument with exclusive gift shop items—featuring original artwork, limited-edition prints, and other curiosities inspired by this milestone in literary history. Available now at the Poe House or online.

Excerpts from our July session of the Virginia Poe Bicentennial Discussion Series. The strange after-lives of Edgar & Virginia Poe, plus rites and traditional feminine in 19th century America. If you enjoy this presentation, look for more sessions in this year’s poetical series from Poe Baltimore.

Overview: Enrica Jang, Director of The Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum in Baltimore, provides an overview of the strange afterlives of Virginia Clemm to her cousin, Edgar Allan Poe.

Act I: Fascinating Women Buried in Baltimore

Kathy Santora and Kalin Thomas look at the lives of women buried in Westminster Burying Ground as well as in Green Mount, Loudon Park, Mt. Auburn, and New Cathedral cemeteries, and how these individuals shaped the city today.

Act II: The Art of Mourning

Hayden Peters of ArtOfMourning.com discusses mourning customs in Virginia Poe’s day. The cost of fashionable mourning was almost as high as the loss of a loved one and the requirements of mourning costume and jewels led families into debt. Learn how these customs became part of 19th century family behavior and how influential women led to its decline.

Act III: Mourning, A Perpetual State

The potential for mourning is endless, perhaps because, being human, we know our time is finite. Virginia Crawford shares how mourning spurs her to write, with poetry from her book, “Questions for Water,” and “The Conqueror Worm” by Edgar Allan Poe.

This is the seventh and final pre-recorded discussion in this series for the Virginia Poe Bicentennial. The Virginia Poe Bicentennial is presented by Poe Baltimore, Westminster Hall & Burying Ground, Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, the Poe Cottage at Fordham (Bronx, NYC,) with generous help and participation from Poe Studies Association, The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore and The Poe Museum (Richmond.)

Excerpts from our June session of the Virginia Poe Bicentennial Discussion Series. The public scandals and private tragedies that shaped the marriage of Virginia & Edgar Allan Poe.

Overview: Enrica Jang, Director of The Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum in Baltimore, provides an overview of the marriage of Virginia Clemm to her cousin, Edgar Allan Poe.

Act I: Tender Hearts

Dean Knight from The Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia, analyzes Poe’s anguished letter from Richmond to Baltimore, August 29, 1835, proposing marriage to his first cousin, Virginia Clemm.

Act II: Affairs of the Heart

Historical fiction writer and bestselling author, Lynn Cullen, shares her research on Poe’s affairs of the heart that hastened his wife’s death in 1847.

Act III: Virginia Poe and Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita

Poe and Nobokov scholar, Susan Elizabeth Sweeney, explores the connections between Virginia’s experience as a child bride and one of America’s most notorious novels.

This is the sixth in a pre-recorded discussion series for the Virginia Poe Bicentennial. The Virginia Poe Bicentennial is presented by Poe Baltimore, Westminster Hall & Burying Ground, Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, the Poe Cottage at Fordham (Bronx, NYC,) with generous help and participation from Poe Studies Association, The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore and The Poe Museum (Richmond.)

Discussion with bestselling author, Lynn Cullen, who wrote the novel “Mrs. Poe” inspired by the rumored extra-marital affair between Edgar Allan Poe and the writer, Frances Osgood.

What did Virginia know? How did this affair of the heart (and perhaps more) impact her last days of marriage to Poe before her premature death in 1847? Preview of our penultimate session in the Virginia Poe Bicentennial Discussion Series, “MARRIAGE: Public Scandals & Private Tragedies of Mr. and Mrs. Poe”

The hidden her-stories of the women in the Poe family, including a Revolutionary War patriot, and how a mother’s love changed literary history.

Act I

The Life of Elizabeth Cairnes Poe, Matron & Patriot

J. Scott Watkins appears as David Poe Sr., Revolutionary War hero and patriot at the battle of North Point in the War of 1812, to talk about the family’s contribution to the founding of the United States, and the forgotten war service of his wife, Elizabeth.

Act II

Poetry reading: “To My Mother”

Storyteller and writer, Kalin Thomas, will read Edgar Alln Poe’s poetical tribute to the woman who became his surrogate mother in his later years.

Baltimore Mothers: Real and True Women

Antebellum women were expected to be pious, pure, submissive, and domestic. This ideal was not one that all women were able to achieve. Join Dr. Amy Rosenkrans for a talk on motherhood in Baltimore across race, religious, and social classes.

Act III

Viewing of items pertaining to Virginia Poe from the Special Collections Department at Enoch Pratt Free Library. Eben Dennis will talk about the Poe Collection’s array of manuscripts, photographs, and rare books.

This is the fifth in a series of monthly programs for the Virginia Poe Bicentennial; follow us on social media to be alerted when events are happening! The Virginia Poe Bicentennial is presented by Poe Baltimore, Westminster Hall & Burying Ground, Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, the Poe Cottage at Fordham (Bronx, NYC,) with generous help and participation from Poe Studies Association, The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore and The Poe Museum (Richmond.)

Grave-side chat with J. Scott Watkins, Living History Performer and descendent of the Westminster sextons who buried Edgar and Virginia Poe–several times! We talk about the Poe family’s Revolutionary War history, then share what to expect for “MOTHER: Hidden Her-stories of the Women in the Poe Family” our May session of the Virginia Poe Bicentennial Discussion Series.

Excerpts from our April session of the Virginia Poe Bicentennial Discussion Series. Celebrate National Poetry Month with dramatic readings and discussion.

Act I: Poe’s Feminine Ideal — The Death of a Beautiful Woman

Poe is notorious for asserting the death of a beautiful woman is”the most poetical topic in the world.” Dr. Amy Branam Armiento will discuss how Poe depicts this idea in some of his writing, as well as how this stance is viewed today.

Act II: POETESS

Dramatic readings of select Edgar Allan Poe poems & original work by female-identifying poets from Baltimore and Richmond.

María Badillo

Elizabeth Hazen

Jennifer N. Shannon

Kate Campbell Stevenson

Act III: Would the real Annabel Lee please stand up?

No fewer than seven women could have been the inspiration for Poe’s last love poem, published after his death. We present the candidates and let the audience vote! Discussion with David Gaylin, President of the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore.

This is the fourth in a series of monthly programs for the Virginia Poe Bicentennial. The Virginia Poe Bicentennial is presented by Poe Baltimore, Westminster Hall & Burying Ground, Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, the Poe Cottage at Fordham (Bronx, NYC,) with generous help and participation from Poe Studies Association, The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore and The Poe Museum (Richmond.)

Raven Illustrations by Dore.

Kate Campbell Stevenson is a proud board member of Maryland Women’s Heritage Center and serves as their Cultural Ambassador. Stevenson, a professional actor, producer and life-long community activist was inducted into The Daily Record 2020 Circle of Excellence for her “significant professional accomplishments, outstanding community leadership and inspirational mentoring.” She created Women: Back to the Future –a series of inspiring one-woman shows now in its 25th season– which she performs for audiences throughout the U.S.

Excerpts from our March session of the Virginia Poe Bicentennial Discussion Series.

“Daughters of Baltimore: The Lives of Women in 1830s Maryland”

Dr. Ida E. Jones is the inaugural University Archivist at Morgan State University. Since 2016 her work in the Beulah M. Davis Room explores institutional and community history where Morgan State and Baltimore city intersect.

“As She Lay Dying: Virginia Poe as Edgar’s Muse in the Fordham Cottage”

Roger McCormack, the education coordinator at The Bronx County Historical Society, is pleased to present “As She Lay Dying: Virginia Poe as Edgar’s Muse in the Fordham Cottage.”

This is the third in a series of monthly programs for the Virginia Poe Bicentennial. The Virginia Poe Bicentennial is presented by Poe Baltimore, Westminster Hall & Burying Ground, Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, the Poe Cottage at Fordham (Bronx, NYC,) with generous help and participation from Poe Studies Association, The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore and The Poe Museum (Richmond.)