Mark your Calendars for October 3-4, 2014

Save the date for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources' 10th (!!!) cemetery workshop hosted by the Menokin Foundation in Warsaw, VA on October 3-4, 2014. Details to be announced. To join the mailing list for information, contact Dee DeRoche.

Harrisonburg Workshop Recap

Dr. Carole Nash discussing her research and GPS mapping project at Newtown

The Harrisonburg workshop was a great success. We had a full house of very engaged participants. At the end of day one, we were treated to a tour of Newtown Cemetery, Harrisonburg's African American cemetery and the heart of the Newtown neighborhood. We could all feel the power of this place. Many thanks to the Friends of Newtown Cemetery, Dr. Carole Nash and her students at JMU, and the Massanutten chapter of the Archeological Society of Virginia for a truly wonderful event.

Joanna Wilson Green discussing Victorian funerary symbolism

Day two featured Woodbine Cemetery. You'll always find us in the Victorian section talking iconography!

Miss this workshop? The next one is scheduled for October 3-4, a bit further east at historic Menokin in Warsaw, VA. Stay tuned for more information.

UPDATE: WORKSHOP FULL! Register now for May 30-31 Cemetery Workshop in Harrisonburg, VA

Join us May 30 and 31 for a cemetery conservation and documentation workshop in Harrisonburg, VA. This workshop is geared toward individuals generally interested in historic cemeteries, genealogists, cemetery caretakers and landowners, land managers, and more.

Harrisonburg Community Mausoleum, Woodbine Cemetery

Come learn about how to identify and record marked and unmarked cemeteries, steps toward protection, laws affecting cemeteries, and best practices in marker preservation and conservation.

The fee for both days of the workshop is $60, or $40 for attending Friday’s session only. Participants, however, must attend Friday’s sessions in order to attend the Saturday workshop. Both days of the workshop will be held rain or shine.

To register, fill out this form and mail or email to Dee DeRoche. Registration/payment deadline is May 12.

Register Now for May 18-19 Workshop on the Eastern Shore

Flowers are optional but participants will be encouraged to bring mirrors and cameras, and clipboards and questions during a forthcoming Cemetery Workshop to be offered by staff of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources at Christ Episcopal Church, located at 16304 Courthouse Road, in Eastville.  

The two-day workshop, offered in partnership with Preservation Virginia, will be held May 18 and 19.

The first day’s presentations will cover topics ranging from funerary symbolism to training in the appropriate care and maintenance of grave yards, to genealogy, mortuary archaeology, and Virginia burial law.

The second day will feature on-location training sessions at Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery focusing on stewardship issues for cemeteries, including the cleaning and conservation of stone and masonry, and techniques for photographing historic funerary monuments, and identification of symbols used on grave markers, among other topics.

Early registration is encouraged as workshop space is limited. The fee for both days of the workshop is $60, and $40 for just Friday. Participants must attend Friday’s sessions in order to attend the Saturday workshop. Fifty spaces are available for the Friday lectures and Saturday’s training is limited to 25 participants. Both days of the workshop will be held rain or shine.

Speakers and workshop leaders will include archaeologists, cultural resource professionals, and local history and genealogy experts.

For registration information, please contact Dee DeRoche at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) by email at Dee.Deroche@dhr.virginia.gov  or by phone at (804) 482-6441.

Evergreen Cemetery Highway Marker Dedication, Richmond

A new state historical highway marker issued by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources to honor Evergreen Cemetery, a historic African-American cemetery in Richmond, will be unveiled and dedicated Sunday, March 25, at the marker’s location at the cemetery. 

DHR Staff Members Participating in a May 2010 cleanup
of Evergreen Cemetery



The dedication ceremony will begin at 2 p.m., at Evergreen Cemetery, located at 3600 East Richmond Road.  The ceremony is open to the public. For more information on speakers at the event, keep an eye on DHR's website.

Evergreen Cemetery was established in 1891 as a burying ground “for many of Virginia’s most influential African-American residents,” as the marker states. Among those buried there are pioneering business woman Maggie L. Walker and newspaper editor John Mitchell Jr.

Walker (1864-1934), a native of Richmond, was “president and founder of the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank,” in the words of the marker. In addition to chartering a bank, she founded a newspaper, and established a store many years before women in the U.S. had the right to vote. The National Park Service operates a museum about Walker inside her former home in Richmond’s Jackson Ward neighborhood. 

John Mitchell Jr. (1863-1929), who will also be honored with a new state historical marker later this year, was editor of the black newspaper the Richmond Planet. Mitchell gained a reputation as a fierce champion of African-American rights during the era of segregation. He, too, once resided in Jackson Ward. 

The Evergreen Cemetery marker was approved in March of 2011 by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, which administers the marker program.

Virginia’s program, which began in 1927 with the installation of the first historical markers along U.S. Route 1, is considered the oldest such program in the nation. Currently there are more than 2,200 official state markers, most maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation.  For more information on the marker program, click here.

Text of the marker:

Evergreen Cemetery

In 1891, Evergreen Cemetery was established as a preeminent resting place for many of Virginia's most influential African-American residents.  These include Maggie L. Walker, president and founder of the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank, and John Mitchell, Jr., champion of African-American rights and editor of the Richmond Planet newspaper.  J.Henry Brown, a stonemason by trade, designed many of the tombstones erected here.  By the early 1970s, the cemetery had fallen into disrepair.  In 1975, volunteers from the Maggie L. Walker Historical Foundation led an effort to restore Evergreen to its original glory.



UPDATED! 2012 Cemetery Workshops

We're busy at DHR and Preservation Virginia planning for 2012's slate of cemetery workshops. We hope to hold three this year, with one in late spring and two this upcoming fall. We'll be visiting parts of the states we haven't covered before, so stay tuned for details on a workshop near you!

UPDATE 3/21/12 We're happy to announce two confirmed workshops. One in Eastville, VA in Northampton County at Christ Episcopal Church on May 18-19, and another in Leesville, VA (location TBA) on September 22-23. Stay tuned for more info!


View 2012 Workshops in a larger map

Virginia Cemetery Preservation Featured in the Washington Post

Caretaker Vernon Peterson of Rock Hill Cemetery in Loudoun County, Virginia expresses his concerns about the future of this burial ground after his tenure ends in an article published in today's Washington Post. This great piece highlights threats common to cemeteries throughout Virginia. DHR's Tom Klatka describes our agency's efforts to raise awareness through our recent cemetery workshops and other initiatives.

To read the full article, click here. You can also view a gallery of photos from this story.

Register Now for Lynchburg Cemetery Workshop in April!

Cemetery Conservation and Documentation Workshop

April 8-9, 2011
Lynchburg, VA

Learn how to care for historic cemeteries

A workshop for cemetery owners, caretakers, non-profits, and volunteers, presented by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources in partnership with Preservation Virginia.

Friday, April 8, 2011
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Lectures and Presentations
Location: Old City Cemetery, 401 Taylor Street, Lynchburg, VA 24501
Topics include: Researching and Recording Historic Cemeteries, Cleaning and Conservation of Funerary Monuments, Mortuary Archaeology, Funerary Symbolism, Genealogy, and Virginia Burial Law

Saturday, April 9, 2011
9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Hands-on Training
Location: Old City Cemetery, 401 Taylor Street, Lynchburg, VA 24501
Topics include: Marker Condition Assessment, Review of Stone and Masonry Conservation and Cleaning, Using DHR’s Cemetery Recording Form, and, Techniques for Photographing Historic Funerary Monuments, Identification of Symbols used on Markers

Register early! Spaces fill up quickly.
Registration Fee is $40 for Friday only or $60 for both days.
Saturday’s hands-on training is limited to 25 participants.
Deadline for registration is March 31, 2011. No refunds after April 1, 2011.

Both days of the workshop will be held rain or shine.

For registration information, please contact Dee DeRoche at (804) 367-2323 ext. 134.

**UPDATE 4/4/11**
The Saturday portion of the workshop is full, but we are currently able to accept more registrations for Friday's lecture section through Wednesday, 4/7/11. Contact Dee DeRoche directly for details.

Save the Date! Cemetery Workshop in Lynchburg April 8-9, 2011

April 8 & 9: Cemetery Preservation Workshop, Lynchburg: DHR staff will be conducting a two-day cemetery preservation workshop in partnership with Preservation Virginia. Location for the first day of the workshop will be announced. The second day will provide focus on demonstrations and discussions at Old City Cemetery in Lynchburg. Topics will include researching and recording historic cemeteries, following good practices for cleaning and maintaining gravestones, interpreting funerary symbols and iconography, and the proper techniques for photographing monuments and grave markers. Registration for the workshop will begin in March February. More information coming soon.

Preservation Virginia Presents Interactive "Historic Family Cemeteries" Google Map

Preservation Virginia introduces a great interactive public map where anyone can record the location of historic family cemeteries. Users can add placemarkers and describe cemeteries for others to see.

Note: Marking a family cemetery on this Google map does not ensure that the cemetery is recorded in DHR's Archives. For official recording, use the Citizen Cemetery Recordation Form and submit it to DHR Archives.



View Historic Family Cemeteries in Virginia in a larger map

Nov. 5-6 Workshop in Abingdon: Register Now!

Cemetery Conservation and Documentation Workshop

A workshop for cemetery owners, caretakers, non-profits, and volunteers, presented by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources in partnership with Preservation Virginia.

November 5-6, 2010

Abingdon, VA

Friday, November 5, 2010

10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Lectures and Presentations

Location: Masonic Lodge, 325 W. Main Street, Abingdon, VA 24210

Topics include: Researching and Recording Historic Cemeteries, Cleaning and Conservation of Funerary Monuments, Mortuary Archaeology, Funerary Symbolism, Genealogy, and Virginia Burial Law

Saturday, November 6, 2010

9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Hands-on Training

Location: Sinking Springs Cemetery, Abingdon, VA 24210

Topics include: Marker Condition Assessment, Review of Stone and Masonry Conservation and Cleaning,

Using DHR’s Cemetery Recording Form, and, Techniques for Photographing Historic Funerary Monuments, Identification of Symbols used on Markers

Register early! Spaces fill up quickly. Registration Fee is $25 for Friday only or $40 for both days. Saturday’s hands-on training is limited to 25 participants. Deadline for registration is October 29, 2010. No refunds after October 15, 2010. The Saturday workshop will be held rain or shine.

For registration information, please contact Dee DeRoche at (804) 367-2323 ext. 134.

Cemetery 5K Sponsored by the City of Norfolk and Friends of Norfolk's Historic Cemeteries

For more information, visit http://www.norfolk.gov/cemeteries and see our calendar of events for happenings throughout Virginia.

Archaeology Month Calendar

Historic Cemeteries throughout the Commonwealth are featured for this year's Virginia Archaeology Month. Check out the calendar for events near you throughout October.

Archaeology month 2010_calendar

September 10-11 Workshop in Martinsville

Condition Issues and Conservation with Caitlin O'Grady

We held our second Cemetery Workshop in Martinsville on Friday, September 10 and Saturday, September 11. The venue for the Friday portion of the workshop was graciously provided by the Virginia Museum of Natural History and the Saturday hands-on session was at the lovely Oakwood Cemetery.

Friday morning, September 10, 2010 VMNH Classrooms
Elizabeth Moore (Moderator)

• 10:00 – 10:10: Welcome: Joe Keiper (VMNH)
• 10:10 – 10:20: Meeting Logistics, Elizabeth Moore (VMNH)
• 10:20 – 10:30: Introduction, Mike Barber (DHR)
• 10:30 – 11:00: Cemetery Iconography, Joanna Wilson (DHR)
• 11:00 – 11:30: Cemetery Conservation, Caitlin O’Grady (DHR)
• 11:30 – 12:00: Cemetery and Burial Laws, Joanna Wilson (DHR
• 1:00 – 1:30: County-wide Cemetery Survey, Tom Klatka (DHR)
• 1:30 – 2:00: DHR Cemetery Recording, Jolene Smith (DHR)
• 2:00 – 2:30: Skeletal Forensics, Donna Boyd (Radford University)
• 2:30 – 3:00: Genealogy / Family Histories, Ellen Brown (Community Archives of Southwest Virginia)
• 3:15 – 4:00: Discussants / Discussion Mike Barber (DHR) / Elizabeth Moore (VMNH)

 Many thanks to Elizabeth Moore and the staff at the Virginia Museum of Natural History and members of the Martinsville Cemetery Association for a great workshop!

Click on the links above to view slide shows from selected presentations.

Virginia Archaeology Month!

This year's Virginia Archaeology Month is centered around historic cemeteries. We've even got a double-sided poster featuring great information on identification and preservation of cemetery markers. For more information on Virginia Archaeology Month 2010 or to find out how to get a free poster, contact Dee DeRoche.

Schedule from the May 21-22 Cemetery Workshop in Richmond

Friday, May 21, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. – Lectures and Presentations

Lecture topics include: Researching and Recording Historic Cemeteries, Cleaning and Conservation of Funerary Monuments, Mortuary Archaeology, Funerary Symbolism, Genealogy, and Virginia Burial Law
Each speaker will be followed by 10 minutes of questions.

• 10:00 – 10:10 am Introduction. Mike Barber, State Archaeologist, Department of Historic Resources

• 10:10 am – 10:40 am Gone but not Forgotten: Genealogical Research using Cemetery Records. Dawn K. Tinnell, Research Archivist, Library of Virginia

• 10:40 am – 11:10 am Burial Laws in Virginia and the United States. Joanna Wilson Green, Easement Program Archaeologist, Department of Historic Resources

• 11:10 – 11:40 am Graveyard Archaeology. Dane Magoon, Archaeologist, Cultural Resources, Inc.
• 11:40 am – 12:10 pm Cemetery Iconography and Funerary Symbolism. Joanna Wilson Green, Easement Program Archaeologist, Department of Historic Resources

• 1:00 – 1:30 pm Cemetery Conservation and Documentation: What to Do and What to Avoid. Caitlin O’Grady, Conservator, Department of Historic Resources

• 1:30 – 2:00 pm DHR Cemetery Form. Jolene Smith, Archaeology Inventory Manager / DSS Accounts Manager, Department of Historic Resources

• 2:00 – 2:30 pm Intensive Surface Investigations to Locate Graves and Markers. Patrick O’Neill, President, Archeological Society of Virginia

• 2:30 – 3:00 pm Final Discussion. Mike Barber, State Archaeologist, Department of Historic Resources

Cemetery Workshop Booklet

This is the booklet distributed to participants of the May 20-21 worshop at DHR.

Cemetery Workshop Booklet

Some photos from the Richmond workshop

Workshop participant recording information about a family plot

DHR's Caitlin O'Grady explaining marker conservation and preservation

DHR's Joanna Wilson explaining cemetery iconography

Welcome!

This blog is a response to our recent Cemetery Workshop, held on May 21 and 22 in Richmond. The workshop was a great success, with over 40 participants in our Friday lecture day and more than 20 at the Saturday hands-on session at Hollywood Cemetery.

We intend to use this blog as a place to post electronic versions of resources available at the workshop, links, photos from the events, and more. Additionally, we hope that supporters of Virginia's historic cemeteries can use this blog as a forum for communication.

We also hope to use this blog to collect feedback as we take our show on the road. Check out the poll on the left hand side of the screen and let us know where to come next!