Haymarket Martyrs' Monument in the context of German Waldheim Cemetery

An epitaph (from Ancient Greek ἐπιτάφιος (epitáphios) 'a funeral oration'; from ἐπι- (epi-) 'at, over' and τάφος (táphos) 'tomb') is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves before their death, while others are chosen by those responsible for the burial. An epitaph may be written in prose or in verse.

Most epitaphs are brief records of the family, and perhaps the career, of the deceased, often with a common expression of love or respect—for example, "beloved father of ..."—but others are more ambitious. From the Renaissance to the 19th century in Western culture, epitaphs for notable people became increasingly lengthy and pompous descriptions of their family origins, career, virtues and immediate family, often in Latin. Notably, the Laudatio Turiae, the longest known Ancient Roman epitaph, exceeds almost all of these at 180 lines; it celebrates the virtues of an honored wife (sometimes identified, but not generally accepted, as the Wife of consul Quintus Lucretius Vespillo).

Forest Home Cemetery is a cemetery located at 863 S. Des Plaines Ave, Forest Park, Illinois, United States. Located adjacent to the Eisenhower Expressway, it straddles the Des Plaines River in Cook County, just west of Chicago. The cemetery traces its history to two adjacent cemeteries, German Waldheim (1873) and Forest Home (1876), which merged in 1969.

The cemetery includes two listings on the National Register of Historic Places. The Haymarket Martyrs' Monument was named a National Historic Landmark in 1997. The gravesite of Joseph Carter Corbin, a pioneer in Black education and founder of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, was added to the National Register in 2023.