Forest Home Cemetery & Arboretum

06/13/2026

Please bring your picnic baskets, bring your flowers, and let Forest Home Cemetery & Arboretum take your fancy.

We’re open until 7 p.m. every day this summer.

Our picnic policy was different 140 years ago, when up to 8,000 visitors came to the cemetery on summer Sundays.

Here’s what one of our groundskeepers told the Milwaukee Sentinel on June 13, 1886:

“We have told some people twenty times that this is no picnic ground, and yet they will still smuggle in their lunch … “I suppose the reason is that they have no place to go to to. Milwaukee has no park of any magnitude, and Forest Home Cemetery takes the people’s fancy. Just now we permit baskets to be taken in, but later, when the flowers will be in bloom, it will have to stop. Besides the forbidden lunch which they might contain, the baskets could later be filled with flowers.”

p.s. Thank you to Milwaukee County Parks for managing 15,000 acres and 156 parks countywide. Good parks make great neighbors, and improve the health of a community in every way.

06/13/2026

Please bring your picnic baskets, bring your flowers, and let Forest Home Cemetery & Arboretum take your fancy. We’re open until 7 p.m. every day this summer.

Things were different 140 years ago, when up to 8,000 visitors came to the cemetery on summer Sundays.

Here’s what one of our groundskeepers told the Milwaukee Sentinel on June 13, 1886:

“We have told some people twenty times that this is no picnic ground, and yet they will still smuggle in their lunch … “I suppose the reason is that they have no place to go to to. Milwaukee has no park of any magnitude, and Forest Home Cemetery takes the people’s fancy. Just now we permit baskets to be taken in, but later, when the flowers will be in bloom, it will have to stop. Besides the forbidden lunch which they might contain, the baskets could later be filled with flowers.”

p.s. Thank you to Milwaukee County Parks for managing 15,000 acres and 156 parks countywide. Good parks make great neighbors, and improve the health of a community in every way.

06/12/2026

Across cultures, centuries, and Forest Home's 200 acres, angels represent the afterlife and heavenly intervention. They can serve as mournful, watchful companions over gravesites and spirits. Explore more faces, symbols and stones of grief and goodbye during our historic walking tour, Funerary Art & Symbolism.

Tickets remain, the tree canopy is abundant, and now is the time to get your ticket for our July 25 or August 8 walking tour dates.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1988092148133?aff=oddtdtcreator

If this angel looks familiar, look to our nation's capital. The T.A. Chapman Memorial at Forest Home and Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., share a sculptor: Daniel Chester French.

This angel graces the family plot of T.A. Chapman (1824-92), who opened a dry goods store in Milwaukee that became one of the largest in the (then) Northwestern U.S.

Daughter Alice Chapman (1853-1935) left her mark as a well-dressed Milwaukee philanthropist who helped found Children's Free Hospital, known today as Children's Wisconsin. An alumna of Milwaukee Female College and advocate for education, she's the namesake for Chapman Hall at UWM and helped establish Milwaukee's first summer school program in 1899.

06/11/2026

The Victorian Gardens are blooming. The carriages are ready and our tree canopy is vibrant, verdant. Thursday, June 18, is our Summer Soulstice Celebration!

06/11/2026

Ticket sales for the Summer Soulstice Celebration close today!

Don’t miss out. Meet us in the Victorian Gardens to support and celebrate a National Historical Landmark in the ❤️ of Milwaukee.

5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 18.

https://givebutter.com/2026-soulstice

06/08/2026

You've shared our history, been part of our story, now we're inviting you to experience an evening unlike any other at Forest Home.

A limited number of tickets remain for the Summer Soulstice on Thursday, June 18: dinner, live music, carriage rides, a spirited paddle raise, auction, and more.

Ticket sales end this Thursday, June 11. Every ticket supports preservation, care, and community programming at Forest Home.

Full lineup is below, and a memorable evening awaits on Thursday, June 18, 5:30 p.m. We hope you can join us in the Victorian Gardens for Summer Soulstice.

https://foresthomecemetery.com/2456-2/

06/06/2026

On the anniversary of D-Day, we remember the courage and sacrifice of those who helped liberate Europe during World War II.

Among them was 2nd Lieutenant Gilbert Allis, Jr., who was killed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, while establishing a command post. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for gallantry. Though buried at Normandy American Cemetery in France, his government headstone is inside the E.P. Allis mausoleum in Sec. 36. 2LT Allis was the grandson of E.P. Allis, whose namesake company would later become part of Allis-Chalmers.

First Lieutenant Robert Braeger, a navigator aboard the B-24 Liberator Bambi, flew 30 combat missions, including two over Normandy on D-Day, and received the Distinguished Flying Cross. Braeger built his career at Braeger Chevrolet, founded by his father Oscar in 1923.

Private First Class Oliver H. Stahnke arrived in France through Omaha Beach five days after D-Day with the 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division. He was killed in action on July 17, 1944, during the Normandy campaign and was laid to rest at Forest Home, Sec. D, in 1948.

Today, we honor the service and the sacrifice of all who took part in the Normandy campaign.

This information has been compiled as part of Forest Home Cemetery's veteran database project. To contribute to this initiative or share information about a veteran memorialized at Forest Home, email [email protected].

06/05/2026

Before Milwaukee had parks, it had Forest Home.
For 176 years, Forest Home has been a gathering place for Milwaukee. Today, our arboretum is home to more than 3,100 trees, countless stories, and one unforgettable summer evening.

Join us Thursday, June 18, for the Summer Soulstice in the Victorian Gardens, with dinner, music, carriage rides, and dancing beneath the canopy.

Limited tickets remain. Don’t miss your chance to celebrate Milwaukee history under the trees. 🌿

https://givebutter.com/2026-soulstice

06/03/2026

Big thanks to What's Brewing Wisconsin for having us in their studios today! Our Board Chair and Director of Development tell you all you need to know about our upcoming Summer Soulstice! More information - including how to buy tickets are on our website.

https://www.tmj4.com/shows/whats-brewing-wisconsin/enjoy-the-coming-summer-soulstice-celebration

Forest Home Cemetery and Arboretum invites the community to experience a summer evening like no other at its annual Summer Soulstice Celebration.