Association for Gravestone Studies E-Newsletter | |
April 2023 / Issue 241
ISSN 2833-4892
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AGS 2023 Conference Logo
Designed by Lynne Baggett.
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The Association for Gravestone Studies (AGS) was founded in 1977 for the purpose of furthering the study and preservation of gravestones. AGS is an international organization with an interest in gravemarkers of all periods and styles. Through its publications, conferences, workshops and exhibits, AGS promotes the study of gravestones from historical and artistic perspectives, expands public awareness of the significance of historic gravemarkers, and encourages individuals and groups to record and preserve gravestones.
If you're not an AGS member already, we want you to join! If you become a member, you will receive:
-The AGS Quarterly
-The next published issue of Markers
-Discounts on AGS conferences
-News and Notes about Chapter meetings
To join, renew, or for more information, visit
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Past AGS Conference program books have been digitized and can be viewed on the UMass, Amherst Library website:
Also, some back issues of the AGS Quarterly and Markers can be viewed here:
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AGS 2023 Conference and Annual Meeting
The University of Denver - Denver, Colorado
Tuesday, June 20th - Sunday, June 25th
AGS is returning to its traditional full conference schedule with the option of virtual attendance during the paper sessions and any evening presentations. We look forward to seeing as many of our members, friends, and vendors as possible in Denver!
This year’s conference will include:
- Lectures
- Cemetery Tours
- Forbes and Oakley Awards
- Student Scholarship Awards
- Preservation/Conservation Workshop
- Late Nights
and more!
Registration options include:
- Full Conference Registration (All sessions, campus lodging and meals)
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Guest Registration* (Guest for lodging/meals only)
- Full Conference Registration - On Your Own Lodging
(All sessions and meals; lodging on your own)
- Virtual Only Conference Registration (Lectures and sessions Thursday and Friday)
- Preservation Workshop Only Registration
(Thursday lecture and Friday field workshop; attendance is limited)
- Day by Day Registration (Daily activities including meals; no lodging or workshop)
* must be at least 8 years old
Registration for Full Conference and Conference with on your own lodging closes on May 26. Please note all vehicles on campus require a parking pass that is prepaid and will be available when you check in. More info is found on the registration form.
For further info: email us at info@gravestonestudies.org, or visit our website at:
https://gravestonestudies.org/conferences/2023-conference
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Notice of AGS Annual Meeting
Hold the date: June 23, 2023! The Association for Gravestone Studies Annual Meeting will be held on Friday, June 23, 2023, at 7:00PM Mountain Time, at the University of Denver - Denver, Colorado, during our 2023 Conference.
At that meeting, elections to the AGS Board of Directors will be ratified. Details regarding how to attend the Annual Meeting will be posted on the AGS website in advance of the meeting and included in the registration materials for those who attend the conference. We invite you to vote electronically early in June (we will send details via e-mail), or at the Annual Meeting.
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May 2023 AGS Virtual Book Club
Many of our AGS members are avid readers and have shelves full of cemetery/gravestone related books. If that is you, please join us for our AGS Virtual Book Club. Each month, we'll focus on a book about cemeteries, gravestones, mourning customs, funerary practices and death & dying. We hope to include books written by AGS members, classics in our field, newly published books, as well as novels that feature the subjects mentioned above. Grab a coffee or a tea, cozy up, and join our conversation!
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Details for our next book club meeting:
When: Sunday, May 21st 2023
Time: 7 p.m. Eastern Time
Where: Please register here: https://ags.wildapricot.org/event-5267208
We'll send a Zoom link to the registrants on the day of the book club meeting.
Our selection for May 2023: Mapping & Documenting Cemeteries by Pamela Goffinet
This is a practical how-to book that guides the reader through the process of mapping and documenting a cemetery with easily available tools and basic skills. Included are instructions on creating a map, gathering an inscription database, and assembling a spreadsheet of related information, such as from deeds. Lots of illustrations and easy to understand. Written by a professional cartographer, this book is a must for historians, genealogists, or anyone interested in preserving the information found in cemeteries.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3017017-mapping-documenting-cemeteries?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=WzMkwedQBP&rank=2
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For both upcoming book club selections and past reads, go to the book club page on the AGS website at: https://gravestonestudies.org/welcome/book-club
Looking forward to seeing you in May!
Your hosts: Alma Sinan and Ashlynn Rickord Werner
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Note to AGS Members re: recent Quarterly
The most recent AGS Quarterly was mailed to AGS members recently. You'll see that the issue is dated 2022 -- that isn't an error. The editor had some production issues that prevented release earlier -- this issue was in fact intended to be mailed in the summer of 2022. His plan is to release the fall 2022, winter 2022, and spring 2023 issues in a compacted timeframe to get caught up and back on schedule.
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Spring Meeting, Western New England Chapter
Our Spring meeting will be at the Lee Public Library in Lee, MA on April 29th. It will begin at 10:30AM.
The featured speaker, John Hanson, will present a progress report on his comparative study of the epitaphs on gravestones by the Sturgeses, who worked in Lee from the 1790s until c.1900, and the Newells, who worked in Longmeadow, MA from the 1790s until the 1840s. Bob Drinkwater will provide an introduction to the Sturgeses and their work; Al and Betsy McKee will provide an introduction to the Newells.
After lunch, weather permitting, we’ll re-convene at the Fairmount Cemetery in Lee, and then, perhaps, visit one or more other local cemeteries.
DIRECTIONS: From I-90, turn right onto Route 20 West (Housatonic Street) and bear left onto Park Street, then bear right onto Main Street in the center of town. The Library is on the right, at the corner of Main and Franklin Streets – there are several places to get lunch nearby.
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Spring Meeting: AGS Pennsylvania Chapter
The Spring meeting of the PA AGS Chapter will be Saturday, April 29th, at Penn State York.
We will hold a morning session with presentations followed by the lunch meeting on campus. In the afternoon, we will carpool/caravan down to Pikeville, Maryland, to visit the impressive landscape-lawn Druid Ridge Cemetery (est. 1898).
It's going to be a great day and we hope to see you there! If you are not already on our email list and would like to receive communications about the meeting, including the registration form, please email co-chair Joy Giguere at jmg66@psu.edu.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069484365887
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Spring Meeting: AGS Virginia Chapter
Sunday, May 21st, we'll be taking a pollinators tour at Old City Cemetery in Lynchburg. They have cemetery bees so we’ll be going behind the scenes to see the bees and hopefully get to taste some honey.
Event Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/6050216208387978/
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Course: Lichens, Biofilms, and Stone
Eagle Hill Institute
Steuben, Maine
August 6 - 12, 2023
Maine’s rocky shorelines and inland outcroppings are rich with diverse lichen and biofilm covers. Grave markers made of local granite, and of marble, slate, and sandstone from other New England states and foreign countries host lichens and biofilms. In this seminar, we will study the physical, chemical, and ecological relationships between lichens, biofilms, and stone.
https://www.eaglehill.us/programs/sems-weeklong/flyers-weeklong-pdfs/2023-JacobSchmull.pdf
AGS members receive a 10% discount.
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Webinar Series: Discovering Our Ancestors and Preserving Historic Gravesites
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, Preservation Leadership Forum is presenting a 3 part webinar Series, "Discovering Our Ancestors and Preserving Historic Gravesites"
This three-part series this spring is for those interested in exploring issues related to gravesite preservation. Staff from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Parks Service will be joined by partner organizations to provide insight into the current state of the field of cemetery preservation. Register today. https://savingplac.es/3stQ8C7
Part 1: Understanding Site Ownership and Access to Gravesites was held on April 12.
Part 2: Introduction to Investigating, Documenting, and Preserving Gravesites, will be held
Wednesday, May 10 at 3:00 p.m. Register here: http://bit.ly/3m58wSl
Part 3: Forum Webinar: Beginning to Care for a Gravesite, will be held
Wednesday, June 21 at 3:00 p.m. Register here: http://bit.ly/3zjgP05
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Query: Unusual Marble Tablet
I have recently become an AGS member. We have a most unusual marble tablet in our local cemetery. I wonder if any other readers have ever seen anything like it.
Thank you,
Holly A. Koenig, lilcrookedhouse@gmail.com
Historic Oakwood Preservation Association, Research Committee
Syracuse, NY
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Front and back of gravestone. | | |
The Association for Gravestone Studies
278 Main St., #209
Greenfield MA 01301
www.gravestonestudies.org
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