GHHN (Greater Hudson Heritage Network) is honored to enter into a partnership with the Maurice D. Hinchey Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area to provide workshop training opportunities for 2023.
Stone Strategies:
Documentation, Stewardship &
Conservation of Historic Cemeteries
Historic cemeteries are found in every community, and many are in urgent need of documentation and preservation as residential and business development projects progress through urban, suburban and rural farming communities in the Hudson Valley.
For 2023, there will be a hands-on opportunity for citizens, local historians, educators, librarians, genealogists, community groups and historical societies to learn professional and practical steps necessary to preserve a vanishing heritage. Those responsible for care and access to cemetery property and the information incised on historic gravestones, will find historians, archivists and conservators on hand in a workshop setting to highlight stewardship issues, demonstrate identification, documentation, cleaning and preservation strategies you can use.
2023 Workshop locations:
- Oakwood Cemetery, Troy (Rensselaer County)
- Historic Huguenot Street, Huguenot Cemetery/Crispell Memorial French Church Burying Ground, New Paltz (Ulster County)
- Bedford Historical Society, Old Burial Ground, Bedford (Westchester County)
Presenters:
Joe Ferrannini
Founder, Grave Stone Matters
Priscilla Brendler
Executive Director, GHHN
Kerry Sclafani
Program Director/Archivist, GHHN
Workshop Agenda:
Morning: GHHN Executive Director, Priscilla Brendler and Program Director and Archivist, Kerry Sclafani will provide an overview of historic cemetery stewardship; evolution of cemetery design; and headstone typology and symbolism. The individual workshops will include guest speakers from regional cemeteries to share information on how they provide stewardship, public engagement and preservation of their unique collection. Additionally, the speakers will share information on how they have been able to present educational and fun programs to the public that share the history of their community in a way that entertains visitors and promotes tourism in a sensitive way yet retains the importance of preserving a piece of history. Joe Ferrannini, gravestone conservator, will give a case study showing the transformation of a small overgrown abandoned cemetery to a respectful final resting place for some of the town’s earliest settlers.
Afternoon: Joe Ferrannini will lead a conservation “walk-through” of the burying ground, guiding us in practical methods we can take, as well as those we should avoid, in planning for historic cemetery preservation. Ferrannini will lead hands-on demonstrations of basic preservation practices featuring non-invasive gravestone cleaning techniques. Then participants will roll up their sleeves and under professional supervision, will spend the afternoon practicing non-invasive gravestone cleaning techniques.
More information and registration will be sent in early 2023. Watch your inbox for more information about this exciting workshop series for 2023!
