NCPTT Training Initiative Brings National Attention to Conservation of Historic Cemetery Monuments
On September 26-28, NCPTT will hold its Southwest Regional Cemetery Monument Conservation Workshop in Virginia City, Nev. The Catholic Section of the Silver Terrace Cemetery will be the site for this intensive hands-on experience that will feature the conservation of wooden grave markers. Partners in this effort include the National Park Service Pacific West Regional Office and the Comstock Cemetery Foundation.
The Southwest workshop is the fourth CMC training event in as many years, owing to sustained demand from groups ranging from professional conservators to cemetery enthusiasts. In summer of 2001, NCPTT led an effort to document and conserve gravemarkers in Louisiana's American Cemetery, which is believed to be the oldest cemetery in the Louisiana Purchase. The project sparked the interest of the local public as well as preservation professionals across the country. Since then, NCPTT's National Cemetery Preservation Initiative has partnered with organizations across the country to develop training and technologies to save historic cemeteries.
The work in American Cemetery allowed conservators like former NCPTT staff member ElizaBeth Guin the opportunity to field test new ideas and basic techniques. The outcome of this work began as local lectures and spawned into testing new hands-on training methods. NCPTT continues its work in cemetery conservation by planning and implementing workshops, lectures, and research projects.
CMC Workshop
In 2003, NCPTT developed the Southern Regional Cemetery Monument Conservation Workshop that focused solely on the conservation of cemetery monuments. The event drew more than 60 participants from around the country to the American Cemetery. The hands-on workshop included a seminar portion that featured lectures by experienced conservators about cemetery care.
The workshop began with the fundamental skills of condition assessments, documentation, monument setting, cleaning, lifting, and safety. Participants worked through the more complex issues of stone consolidation, adhesive and reinforced repairs. All of these skills were complimented by lectures on the deterioration methods of materials commonly found in cemeteries and the various ways to stabilize those materials.
National Demand
Positive word of the American Cemetery workshop quickly spread, igniting demand for similar training in other regions of the country. In 2004, NCPTT partnered with the Historic Congressional Cemetery Association in Washington D.C. to develop its Mid-Atlantic Regional Cemetery Monument Conservation Workshop. In addition to the regular course itinerary, the specialty focus of the workshop was the restoration of brick burial vaults, which are common to the Congressional Cemetery. The workshop, which attracted 25 participants from 13 states and Scotland, was set up in a round-robin style to maximize hands-on experience.
In 2005, NCPTT partnered with the NPS Midwest Regional Office, the Gerald R. Ford Conservation Center, and the Prospect Hill Cemetery Association to hold a Midwest Regional Workshop at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Omaha that focused on the conservation of metal work such as cast iron and bronze. Thirty participants from 13 states and Canada attended this intensive hands-on training. This new format separated the attendees into smaller groups for two days of hands-on round robin field training and a half-day of classroom lecture.
Advanced Techniques
NCPTT's first Advanced Cemetery Conservation Techniques Workshop was held for the first time July 10-14 at Natchitoches' American Cemetery as part of NCPTT's Summer Institute. The purpose of this workshop was to allow participants to take the skills already learned in the three day workshop and build upon them by working through complex conservation issues with a professional conservator. Historic brick work and the use of lime mortars were a new focus of this workshop as the participants reconstructed and restored arched brick burial box vaults. In addition to the numerous skills already covered in the previous workshops, historic limewash used as a protective coating was discussed and demonstrated.
CMC Basics
The popularity of the CMC workshops and continuing requests from the public led to the development of NCPTT's Cemetery Monument Conservation Basics Workshop. The goal of this workshop is to give the participants who care about America's history the knowledge to help preserve it for the next generation.
This day long course was designed for genealogists, church sextons, small cemetery owners and the general public. The course starts with an indoor lecture on the importance and proper methods of cemetery care and maintenance. The lecture is followed by an interactive monument cleaning demonstration.
The first CMC Basics Workshop was held in June 2005 and drew capacity crowds thanks to sponsorship by the Vernon Parish Tourism Commission in Leesville, La. A second workshop was held in March at the Fairlawn Cemetery in Oklahoma City with the sponsorship of Preservation Oklahoma, Inc. With the help of additional sponsors, these new basics workshops will be an ongoing series to help nonprofessional audiences.
In addition to the formal teaching opportunities of the CMC Workshop series, NCPTT staff also reach out to groups with specific interests through public lectures and demonstrations. In the past year, NCPTT staff members have given talks to numerous organizations, including the Mid-America Monument Builders Association, Ark-La-Tex Genealogical Society, and the Central Louisiana Archaeology Society.
Partnering with Monument Builders
One organization that has continually fostered the cause of cemetery preservation is the Monument Builders of North America (MBNA). In 2004, MBNA invited NCPTT to present a lecture on cemetery preservation concepts at their national convention in Galveston. This lecture was followed in 2005 by a presentation on cemetery conservation at the national convention in Memphis. NCPTT has since held a one-day field class on historically sensitive cleaning and repair methods for a large group of monument builders at the 2006 MBNA Centennial Convention in Savannah, GA.
Heritage Education
NCPTT's Heritage Education program was created to instill stewardship in K-12 students while enhancing education and creating a national model for heritage education. In 2004 and 2005, the program held a series of workshops around Louisiana to teach educators how to use cemeteries to teach cultural heritage in a standardized testing environment. NCPTT additionally partnered with the Natchitoches Parish School Board and the Natchitoches Historic Foundation in a Louisiana state education grant to incorporate cemeteries into the learning experience. NCPTT Heritage Education also works on a grass roots effort to teach children the importance of and the proper respect for cemeteries by giving lectures and guided tours of American Cemetery.
Department of Veterans Affairs
The Materials Research staff at NCPTT regularly answer questions from cemetery enthusiasts, professional conservators and government agencies. One such discussion led to ongoing research with the Department of Veteran's Affairs (DVA) in which NCPTT is testing commercially available cleaners in five national cemeteries to evaluate their long term effects and ability to retard biological growth on marble.
The first phase of the two-year DVA study included taking biological swabs from select markers in each of the targeted cemetery. These tests rank the selected cleaners based on their ability to remove biological growth and soiling from headstones in different regions of the country. Phase one testing will help determine if the selected cleaners had any negative effects physically or chemically on the marble itself.
The Future
Future projects focusing on cemetery preservation will include a series of instructional videos on various topics such as cleaning techniques, basic resetting and adhesive repairs. The videos will be available for free download from the NCPTT website with simple illustrated instructional sheets for the public.