Cadets Visit Sleepy Hollow

The Department of History sponsored eight cadets and two faculty members to experience nearby Sleepy Hollow. Cadets immersed themselves in the surroundings of America’s first "Man of Letters" – novelist, historian, and diplomat Washington Irving. Cadets toured Sunnyside, Irving's quaint historic home which features many elements and renovations copied from his European travels. After enjoying the superb cuisine of Tarrytown, they received an outstanding private tour of the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, offered by marketing director Christina Orban-La Salle. During their two-hour walk through the grounds of this historic, yet still active cemetery, cadets visited the graves of Washington Irving, Andrew Carnegie, Samuel Gompers, William Rockefeller, and others. They also enjoyed the unique experience of entering the "receiving vault" – a distinctive, but now unused feature of cemeteries in northern climates where frozen winter ground required that bodies be stored until the spring thaw enabled grave-diggers to do their work. Throughout the day enjoying conversations with department faculty about the Army profession.