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T
he Providence North Burial Ground, where the May 18th Southeastern New England
and Cape Cod Chapter meeting will be held.
Photo by
Fran Leazes.
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AGS Membership
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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 next published issue of
Markers
-Discounts on AGS publications
-Discounts on AGS conferences
-News and Notes about Chapter meetings
To join, renew, or for more information, visit
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AGS Publications Available Online
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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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Shop AmazonSmile
Did you know that you can shop online and know you are helping support AGS? AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to do so every time you shop, at no cost to you.
AmazonSmile donates 0.5% of all your eligible purchases to support AGS when you select the Association for Gravestone Studies as your charity of choice!
It's easy to help. Go to
https://smile.amazon.com/ and use your usual Amazon login information. All of the millions of products eligible for charitable donation credits carry the AmazonSmile logo.
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AGS Office has moved!
We have relocated from our Munson Street office in Greenfield to 278 Main Street in Greenfield, next door to where the office was located 10 years ago.
The board decided to downsize our space, since our archives have moved to UMass, Amherst. The new space consists of two rooms, one for our office, the other to process incoming materials donated to the archives.
Our new address is 278 Main St., Suite 209, Greenfield, MA 01301.
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2019 AGS Annual Meeting and Conference
AGS holds an annual conference every June. Held in a different location each year since 1978, the conference features lectures, demonstrations, exhibits, conservation and documentation workshops, classroom sessions, slide presentations, and guided cemetery tours.
Our 2019 Annual Meeting and Conference will be held at Gardner-Webb University, Boiling Springs, North Carolina on June 25-30. Join us!
Click here to see a video about Garder-Webb University.
REGISTRATION:
A print and mail form is available at:
Online registration will be available soon also at the above link.
Our 2019 logo, from a stone
attributed to James Sloan, at
Steele Creek Presbyterian
Church Cemetery in Charlotte.
Created by Lynne Joddrell Baggett.
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First Class Postage and the AGS Quarterly
We received the following message and photo from an AGS member regarding his Quarterly:
"Excited to receive our AGS Quarterly, though I can't help noticing it is significantly lighter this month.
I hope whoever has the other 40 pages enjoys it!"
You can reduce the chance of receiving a damaged Quarterly in the mail, by signing up to have it mailed First Class for only $10/year. You can do this when you renew your membership.
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2019 AGS Conference Scholarship for Students
STUDENTS: Have you been doing research on gravestones, cemeteries, or a closely related topic? Would you like an opportunity to attend the next Association for Gravestone Studies Conference and Annual Meeting as a guest of AGS? Enter the AGS Student Scholarship Competition.
The next AGS Conference will be held at Gardner-Webb University, Boiling Springs, North Carolina, June 25-30.
Requirements: The applicant must be a graduate or undergraduate student at an accredited college or university, as well as a member of the Association for Gravestone Studies. A student membership is just $25 per year and includes the next published issue of
Markers, four issues of the
AGS Quarterly, and more.
Application: Each applicant should submit a proposal for a twenty-minute presentation: a scholarly paper suitable for delivery at an academic conference, or a report of comparable quality on an on-going research project, to be presented at the Friday evening lecture session. PowerPoint is the preferred presentation medium.
Each entry should include the title, a summary or abstract and a PDF of the PowerPoint program, as well as a letter of recommendation from an academic adviser. Your entry should consist of a cover letter, with attachments, emailed to
[email protected]
.
The award will cover registration and activities fees, plus room and board for the full conference (about $525) and will include a cash prize of $200, which will be presented at the conference.
Deadline: March 31, 2019
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AGS Western New England Chapter, Spring 2019 Meeting
Saturday, April 27, 10 AM to 3 PM, Greenfield, Massachusetts
We will meet at the Greenfield Community College Downtown Campus, 270 Main Street
The program will include:
Claire Carlson, Education Program Coordinator at Historic Deerfield, will do a short classroom presentation on the Old Deerfield Burying Ground, showing some of the stones as they were in the 1960s when they were fully photo-documented, and then, after lunch, she will lead a walk around the burying ground, so we can see how the stones look today.
Peter Thomas (archaeologist) and Kevin Sweeney (historian) have offered to come and discuss their research on the monuments erected to commemorate the September 1675 Bloody Brook Fight in South Deerfield.
CALL FOR ADDITIONAL SPEAKERS -- If you would like to do a presentation (20-30 mins.), during the morning session, contact Bob Drinkwater: [email protected] or Andrea Carlin: [email protected].
Coffee, snacks and a light lunch will be provided (we request a small donation to help defray costs). After lunch (weather permitting) we will visit the Old Deerfield Burying Ground (and perhaps, one or more other local cemeteries).
This event is free and open to the public.
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AGS Northeast New England Chapter, Spring Meeting
2019 Spring Meeting
of the Northeast New England Chapter
of The Association for Gravestone Studies
at Evergreen Cemetery
, Portland, Maine.
Date: Saturday, May 4, 2019
Time: 10 AM to 3 PM
Place: Wilde Memorial Chapel,
672 Stevens Avenue, Portland, Maine 04103
This event is FREE, and a light lunch will be provided. Expenses will be covered by the voluntary donations of attendees, and the difference (if any) will be underwritten by several individuals.
If you are able to attend the meeting, please RSVP by Thursday, April 18th to
[email protected] or by indicating you are going on the Facebook Event page at
www.facebook.com/events/1059974577547024/.
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AGS Southeastern New England and Cape Cod Chapter, Spring Meeting
Saturday May 18, 2019 10AM-3PM.
The Providence North Burial Ground is an active 17th century cemetery.This 110 acre cemetery is the largest public cemetery in Rhode Island and has experienced many changes over its 300 plus year history. It faces a set of 21st century challenges. The Chapter meeting in Providence at the Burial Ground offers an opportunity to discuss, ask questions about, offer ideas for and to experience through film and walking tours this historic, working cemetery. More information to follow.
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Request from the AGS
Markers
Editor
We are currently seeking article submissions for the 2020 issue of Markers, the scholarly journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies.
The subject matter of Markers is defined as the analytical study of gravemarkers, monuments, tombs, and cemeteries of all types and encompassing all historical periods and geographical regions. Markers is of interest to scholars in anthropology, historical archaeology, art and architectural history, ethnic studies, material culture studies, American studies, folklore and popular culture studies, linguistics, literature, rhetoric, local and regional history, cultural geography, sociology, and related fields. Articles submitted for publication in Markers should be scholarly, analytical, and interpretive, not merely descriptive or entertaining, and should be written in a style appropriate to both a wide academic audience and an audience of interested non-academics.
Authors are encouraged to send a query email outlining a project before sending a manuscript. Queries and submissions to Markers should be sent to
Editor Elisabeth Roark at
[email protected]
, before June 1, 2019.
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Seminar: "Lichens, Biofilms, and Stone"
August 11-17, 2019
"Lichens, Biofilms, and Stone" is an advanced training seminar for conservators -- a
seminar for professional and aspiring conservators and preservationists with an interest in stone monuments, sculptures, and buildings.
The seminar draws participants from throughout North America and beyond.
AGS members receive a 10% discount.
Instructors: Judy Jacob, Senior Conservator, National Park Service (NY), and Michaela Schmull, Director of Collections, Farlow Herbarium, Harvard University (MA)
Offered by the Eagle Hill Institute, which is on the coast of Maine between Acadia National Park and Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge.
University students receive a 10% discount (20% discount with a faculty member's letter of recommendation).
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Connecticut Gravestone Network Symposium
Saturday, March 30th
Saint Sebastian's Church - 155 Washington Street, Middletown, CT 06457
Bring your questions - Learn how to preserve your history - Visit with Exhibitors
Presentations:
Welcome by Ruth Shapleigh Brown
"Beginners Basics and Should we be Reburying in Old Places," Ruth Shapleigh Brown
"How sacred are our grave spaces? Who moved (or removed) Grandpa? Navigating the legal and ethical challenges and where do we go from here," Attorney Cheryl Jansen and Lisa Burghardt; genealogist and co-owner of Artista Studios & Monument Works
"Middletown Old Burying Ground Association and Town Cemetery Records," Augie DeFrance
"Cemetery Conservation, where it was, where it is now, and where it is going," Robert Mosko
"3D LiDAR: New Technology in Your Old Burying Ground," Thomas Elmore, Founder of The GeoNAV Group, LLC
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Presentation: The Graveyard as a Genealogical Resource
Hosted by Plymouth County Genealogists, Inc. and the Gravestone Girls
Saturday, May 4, 2019 at 12 PM - 3 PM
PCGI continues our 2018-19 Speaker Series with a presentation by the Gravestone Girls. We invite you to gather with us and learn from them!
In this presentation, Brenda Sullivan directly aims at genealogists and how we can learn to 'read' the cemetery for clues and information. Using both direct observation and deductive reasoning from objects such as the writing, art, geology and the cemetery landscape, much new insight can be revealed. That new insight can answer questions, create new inquiries and open doors for further detective work. Many genealogists use the cemetery as a cursory resource, some haven't tapped it at all. Her program will get them looking at these spaces, both old and new, as a valuable resource for their data collection activities! This is a new program in the GG hit parade, so come check it out!
East Bridgewater Public Library Central Library
32 Union St, East Bridgewater, Massachusetts 02333
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Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Restoration/Awareness Day
Historical Cemetery Restoration/Awareness Day is now a PERPETUAL Day of Special Observance in Rhode Island. Congratulations to all who made this happen: RI Historic Cemetery Commission, General Assembly sponsors and the special work of hundreds of volunteers.
A statewide historical cemetery clean-up authorized by RI House Resolution No. 7239 and sponsored by the RI Historical Cemetery Commission will take place on Saturday April 13th
at the Riverside cemetery, a local cemetery in Burrillville. It is mostly a clean-up but will also include a cleaning demo and resetting a large gravestone with the tripod.
For more information:
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Presentation: "Feeble Stones:" Graves of the Disabled and Mentally Ill in Massachusetts
Sponsored by the Public Health Museum: Join us on Wednesday April 3rd at
Tewksbury Public Library
for "Feeble Stones," a fascinating presentation on the final resting places of the disabled and mentally ill throughout the state's history. The presentation starts at 7:00pm and is by AGS Board Member Ashlynn Rickord.
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Query: Angel Statue
Below are 2 photos of our mom's infant sister's marker, Mary Lorine Iaia, at Calvary Cemetery Altoona, Pennsylvania: 1932 at 18 days old. Would anyone be able to tell me what the right hand might be holding in this type of statue?
Our mom, Mary Lorine's sister, passed this February. The first photo has mom visiting Calvary Cemetery in July 1944, the right hand still present, thumb/forefinger holding a box? basket? bell? The second photo shows the same statue with the hand broken off.
As we entered Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, here in Rochester NY, recently we drove by a similar statue, that of a 4-year old girl, from 1894. The right hand is on this statue, it is weathered, of course, but it almost looks like a bell is held between thumb/forefinger.
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Video: "The Silent Language of the Stones"
This video presentation, "The Silent Language of the Stones, Reading Gravestones through Symbols and Carvings" is by Joy Neighbors.
https://www.rootstech.org/video/reading-gravestones-through-symbols-and-carvings-joy-neighbors?fbclid=IwAR2y03vRukEiM0XZsjjzKUvIbBNDsDaVRmG4V3SHtK3XkCwtLgFrnx42DWo
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Video: The Cemetery Detective
In today's episode of The Cemetery Detective, I study 9 discrete examples of Hand Symbolism on Gravestones in a Southern Cemetery.
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Video:
Cemetery Tours: #1- Bonaventure Cemetery
Here is a video by Chuck Sawall:
"
I am more of a videographer than a photographer, though I do both.
I started a series on Cemetery Tours, providing history and folklore for each marker as I visit them."
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Cemetery Loves by Tina (Pabst) Utter and Dale Utter
Cemetery Lovers by Tina (Pabst) Utter and Dale Utter is a column published in the Sidney, New York
Tri-Town News. The topic of this column is early gravestone carvers.
Early Gravestone Carvers
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Article: "Minneapolis man offers his cemetery to city"
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Article: "Preserving Maine's history, one headstone at a time"
This article, featured in the Maine Old Cemetery Association newsletter, is about AGS Board member Joe Ferrannini and his efforts to teach MOCA members the basics of stone cleaning and repair.
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Article: "History of Belfast's cemeteries is key to understanding the city's past"
This article is posted on the
Irish News website.
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Article: "Graves vandalized at Jewish cemetery in Massachusetts"
This article is posted on Yahoo.com.
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Articles: World War II Monuments Vandalized
These articles are about vandalism discovered on WWII memorials in South Boston, Massachusetts.
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Article:
"8 Oldest Cemeteries in the World"
This article is posted on oldest.org.
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Article:
"Real Estate for the Afterlife"
This article is posted on the
New York Times website.
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Article: "Irish Gravestone Symbols"
This article is posted on billiongraves.com
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Article: "Five Historic Cemeteries to Visit in Boston"
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Article: "New video game to preserve history of Regina (Canada) Cemetery"
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Article: "A Colonial-Era Cemetery Resurfaces in Philadelphia"
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