Mount Auburn Cemetery’s ‘Branches of Hope’ to Mark 80 Years Since Bombing of Hiroshima

Mount Auburn Cemetery will mark the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima with an event called “Branches of Hope: Reflecting on the Past, Healing for the Future” on Aug. 15, starting at 5:30 p.m. The event will include an appearance by filmmaker Cannon Hersey, grandson of “Hiroshima” author John Hersey, performances, a bonsai exhibit and “reflection on the legacy of war and peace.” It will also include music and presentations by Akira Fujimoto, a contemporary Japanese artist, and Koko Kondo, a peace advocate and Hiroshima bombing survivor.

The event’s organizers say the event will use art and contemplation as a way for the public to “reflect on the costs of conflict and the enduring human pursuit of peace.”

The precise death toll from the 1945 U.S, bombing of Hiroshima — the first use of an atomic bomb in war — is not known, but is estimated to have been 140,000 by December 1945, “when the acute effects of radiation poisoning had largely subsided, at roughly 140,000,” according to the city of Hiroshima government.

Filmmaker and cultural organizer Cannon Hersey will give a keynote speech. Hersey is producing a feature film called “What Divides Us,” which is inspired by his Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist grandfather’s 1946 book “Hiroshima.” That book was credited with bringing the voices of atomic bomb survivors to the world.

“Eighty years after my grandfather, John Hersey, gave voice to the survivors of Hiroshima, their stories still feel deeply urgent,” said the younger Hersey in a statement. “At a time when conflict is once again shaping so much of the world, we need spaces that invite us to reflect — not just on the past, but on what peace could mean today. I’m grateful to be having that conversation in a place like Mount Auburn, where memory, community, and creativity come together to help us hold the weight of history and imagine something better.”

Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge is a National Historic Landmark and the nation’s first rural cemetery.

“Mount Auburn was founded nearly two centuries ago as a place to celebrate life, and inspire reflection through its landscape,” said Matthew Stephens, president and CEO of the cemetery. “That vision continues today, not only in how we honor those who came before us, but in how we welcome the living as we reimagine what cemeteries can become. As the weight of conflict settles once more into our collective awareness, this event invites our community to pause, to gather, and to imagine how timeless values might carry us forward in a fractured world.”

Advance registration is encouraged; tickets can be obtained at https://mountauburn.org/event/branches-of-hope/