At the Hopkins family plot, Mary Ellen Saterlie shares her research about Johns Hopkins, whose tombstone is second from right. Photo by Jay Vanrensselaer/HIPS

On a windy hilltop overlooking the city he loved, dozens of Baltimore's residents gathered at Johns Hopkins' graveside on Christmas Eve, the anniversary of his death in 1873, to give thanks to the benefactor of the university and hospital that bear his name.

Ross Jones, vice president and secretary emeritus of the university, welcomed attendees and introduced Mary Ellen Saterlie, a retired associate superintendent of schools for Baltimore County and member of the Society of Friends, who has done extensive research on Hopkins, who was a Quaker. "Johns Hopkins' legacy keenly reflects Quaker philosophy," she said. "It has been said that Quakers came to America to do good, and they did well."

The $7 million estate left by Hopkins in equal parts to the two institutions was, at the time, the largest philanthropic bequest in U.S. history.

Among those who shared their appreciation during the brief ceremony at Green Mount Cemetery were Frederick Scott, who began his studies at the university in 1945 as its first black undergraduate, and an unidentified woman grateful for her treatment by a physician whose renown had been unknown to her.

To read the obituary that appeared in The Sun on Dec. 25, 1873, go to www.jhu.edu/~gazette/1999/jan0499/obit.html.

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