Photograph by Devyn Glista
Among 450 acres of burials and headstones, it can be difficult for one memorial to stand out, but the Lawler Sphinx has been turning heads and courting controversy since 1850. Commissioned by businessman and Spring Grove Cemetery cofounder Davis B. Lawler, the monument honors his parents, Matthew—a former mayor of Philadelphia—and Anne. As an avid traveler and fan of Egyptology, Lawler chose the Sphinx to convey “an agnostic message that the future is unknowable,” says Spring Grove historian Debbie Brandt. “The strength of a lion with the beauty and dignity of a woman.” Many Queen City citizens and even some of Lawler’s cofounders objected to the monument’s “pagan” symbolism and “insult” to Christian sensibilities, yet it still stands as a unique landmark in the cemetery.
