I am frequently asked how I became interested in cemeteries. It is a story that began for me as a young child. Every year on the first Sunday in May, I traveled with my family to Bethabara Cemetery in Fayette County for Decoration Day. And every year I watched my mother and aunts place flowers at our ancestors’ graves. We would walk between rows of headstones, and I would hear my grandfather repeat the same stories about who was who and how that person fit into our family tree. Then we would stand beside the freshly decorated graves and proudly have our picture taken. Those faded photographs not only depict the evolution of the cemetery but also remind me how quickly time passes. My grandfather died in 2008 and now lies buried at Bethabara, and Decoration Day is more meaningful to me than ever before. I walk the rows with my own children, repeating the stories my grandfather entrusted to me many years ago, perpetuating my love for old cemeteries that began when I was a child.
As part of the Alabama Historical Commission’s (AHC) mandate to encourage landmark preservation, the safekeeping of historic cemeteries is a primary concern. Even as fastpaced change converts old homesteads into new subdivisions and retail malls, forgotten cemeteries are being rediscovered.
Ironically, new development itself can be a catalyst for preservation, providing an opportunity to incorporate restored cemeteries into the overall landscape development plan. But properly restoring an old cemetery requires knowledge and careful attention to detail. A cemetery’s design and layout, the types of markers present, and even the decorations themselves reveal various folk, ethnic, religious, and cultural traditions.
Ironically, new development itself can be a catalyst for preservation, providing an opportunity to incorporate restored cemeteries into the overall landscape development plan. But properly restoring an old cemetery requires knowledge and careful attention to detail. A cemetery’s design and layout, the types of markers present, and even the decorations themselves reveal various folk, ethnic, religious, and cultural traditions.
How we bury our dead and how we maintain their gravesites reveals part of who we are as Alabamians.
Among AHC initiatives to encourage cemetery preservation is volunteer-assisted in-depth cemetery documentation. The commission offers specialized cemetery survey forms that enable volunteers to quickly capture general information about the cemetery as well as individual burials. At the end of a documentation project, volunteers will have a complete burial listing for the cemetery, a description of each grave marker, a photograph of every grave site, the location of all burials, and a detailed cemetery history. Filed in the permanent cemetery collection at the Commission, this information is available to the public.
One of the AHC’s most popular programs is the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register, the state’s only official listing of historic cemeteries. This program, similar to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, provides a quick and easy way for people to memorialize important cemeteries within their communities. While a cemetery must be at least forty years old to qualify, the register can and does encompass all types of burial grounds, whether community, family, private, church, municipal, or even unmarked. Listing is honorary and now includes over five hundred cemeteries throughout the state. Once a cemetery is placed on the register, the sponsoring person or group has the option to purchase either a historical marker or plaque displaying Alabama’s unique cemetery seal.
State laws protect cemeteries from desecration and willful destruction. In recent years, under the leadership of the late Sen. Wendell Mitchell, the state legislature has strengthened existing statutes and passed new ones. Now city and county governments have more authority to care for neglected cemeteries within their jurisdiction.
One of the AHC’s most popular programs is the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register, the state’s only official listing of historic cemeteries. This program, similar to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, provides a quick and easy way for people to memorialize important cemeteries within their communities. While a cemetery must be at least forty years old to qualify, the register can and does encompass all types of burial grounds, whether community, family, private, church, municipal, or even unmarked. Listing is honorary and now includes over five hundred cemeteries throughout the state. Once a cemetery is placed on the register, the sponsoring person or group has the option to purchase either a historical marker or plaque displaying Alabama’s unique cemetery seal.
State laws protect cemeteries from desecration and willful destruction. In recent years, under the leadership of the late Sen. Wendell Mitchell, the state legislature has strengthened existing statutes and passed new ones. Now city and county governments have more authority to care for neglected cemeteries within their jurisdiction.
The AHC regularly sponsors cemetery workshops, where correct preservation techniques are demonstrated. Cleaning and repairing grave markers and removing overgrown vegetation are meaningful ways to honor our forebears and preserve their final resting places.
Cemetery care is often an unfunded mandate, as many neglected cemeteries have no official owners, caretakers, or perpetual care funds. The responsibility falls mainly to family members, community volunteers, Boy Scouts, and church groups who spend countless hours maintaining these sacred places.
Alabama’s historic cemeteries can be meaningful and beautiful parts of our landscape. Often they evoke deep emotional responses because of our personal ties with those buried there. We advocate for preservation not from a cold, academic perspective, but from the belief that every burial has a story to tell and that every life is important.
This feature was previously published in Issue 106, Fall 2012.
About the Author
Lee Anne Hewett Wofford earned a BA in History and an MA in American Studies from the University of Alabama. She has worked for the Alabama Historical Commission for twelve years and manages the Architectural Survey Program, the Alabama Register of Landmarks & Heritage, and the Cemetery Preservation Program.
Alabama’s historic cemeteries can be meaningful and beautiful parts of our landscape. Often they evoke deep emotional responses because of our personal ties with those buried there. We advocate for preservation not from a cold, academic perspective, but from the belief that every burial has a story to tell and that every life is important.
This feature was previously published in Issue 106, Fall 2012.
About the Author
Lee Anne Hewett Wofford earned a BA in History and an MA in American Studies from the University of Alabama. She has worked for the Alabama Historical Commission for twelve years and manages the Architectural Survey Program, the Alabama Register of Landmarks & Heritage, and the Cemetery Preservation Program.
RSS Feed