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Last summer, I organized a group of volunteers to help document a historic cemetery in the Atlanta area. As I spoke with the volunteers and answered their questions during the event, I realized it would be beneficial to write down the steps for preparing to document a cemetery and then doing it.
Some of this may seem like common sense, but if you’ve never documented a cemetery before, I hope this post will help you prepare when you decide to do so.
What to Wear
- Closed-toed shoes-Whether the cemetery is manicured or overgrown, there will be bugs that will want to bite you and holes that you might step into, and closed-toed shoes will minimize the risk and possible injury. I would also consider boots if you are going into an overgrown cemetery during the warmer months. (I’ve stepped in enough holes over the years to know sturdy shoes minimize injuries.)
- Long pants-I know some people will find this suggestion ridiculous, but pants will help protect your legs from plant overgrowth and any living thing that might want to take a bite out of your leg.
- Bug spray-Insects, especially mosquitoes, love me, so I always have bug spray. It will also help repel any other insects that call the cemetery home. (I am still traumatized by stepping into an ant hill and hundreds of ants were very angry I disturbed their home. I had bug spray to quickly kill them.)
- Hat – While I am not a hat person, they help keep the sun off your face and prevent ticks from getting into your hair.
- Sunglasses – While these are self-explanatory, some cemeteries have so few trees that it can get unbearably hot, and the bright sun can make it hard to see headstones, especially those with a reflective shine.
- Sunscreen– If you’re like me, this will be especially helpful on really sunny days.
- Water
What to Bring
- Camera-In a perfect world, you are using a camera with GPS-enabled. If you are using your phone, most people have geotagging already activated. If you are using a digital camera, some mirrorless and many DLSRs have internal GPS. GPS is helpful especially when you upload to FindAGrave because it will geolocate where a grave is on a memorial.
- Gloves-These may be useful if you need to clean a marker that has become embedded in the ground.
- Flashlight-This is to help angle light to help reading a headstone easier. Some people will recommend using foil to get an impression, a grave rubbing, or something that involves touching the marker. I always recommend not touching any marker, especially the older the are. The older they are, the more fragile a marker will be. Also, sometimes even newer markers can be unstable because the headstone has become disconnected from the base. In most states, it is illegal to touch a grave marker without the permission of the cemetery and/or the family. (For the love of all things graveyard, do not use shaving cream to get a better read of a headstone.)
How to Photograph
- Most cemeteries bury their residents in rows with an east- west orientation. However, due to age and space availability, this might not be the case in some cemeteries.
- Many taphophiles will do what is called “mow the row,” l which essentially means walking the row and getting everything on that row.
- While it is important to get a good clean shot of a marker, it is also helpful to step away from the marker and try to include a wider shot of where the headstone js. This way someone can use a combination of GPS and landmark photos to help a visitor find a grave marker.
- If the marker is standing, walk all sides of the marker because it could include more names or other information that would be good to document.
