History
Current Projects
NCA Historic Burial Ledgers, Digitized and Indexed, 
Now Available on Ancestry.com
Note to History and Genealogy researchers: The NCA Historian Program staff is unable to undertake primary research for the public about veterans who may or may not be interred in NCA cemeteries due to the volume of these requests. Researchers should contact the National Archives & Records Administration or other offices recommended in the FAQs.
32nd Indiana Infantry (Bloedner) Monument Project
- History and Context of the Bloedner Monument
- Moving and Conservation Slideshow (new)
- Frazier History Museum
General
Leadership: Former Directors and Under Secretaries for Memorial Affairs, 1973-2011
Landscapes of Honor & Sacrifice: The History of the National Cemeteries, 2003 — A 30-minute video illustrating the rich history of the national cemeteries
"Memorial Day Order" — Annual recognition originally called Decoration Day, by GAR Commander-in-Chief John A. Logan in 1868
New Gettysburg Address Tablets for National Cemeteries to Honor Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial
Publications
"Shrines of the Honored Dead: A Study of the National Cemetery System" — Six articles by Edward Steere that appeared in The Quartermaster Review, in 1953-1954
American Military Cemeteries: A Comprehensive Illustrated Guide to the Hallowed Grounds of the United States, including Cemeteries Overseas, by Dean W. Holt (McFarland & Co., Jefferson, North Carolina) 2010, Second Edition.
Historic Resource Information
NCA Memorial Inventory, FY12 (currently being revised)
Cleaning and Caring for Government Headstones and Markers
The National Park Service's National Center for Preservation Technology & Training completed a study in 2011 to evaluate general cleaning needs of marble government-issued headstones. The findings are found in Best Practice Recommendations for Cleaning Government-Issued Headstones. For more information, see: http://ncptt.nps.gov/best-practice-recommendations-for-cleaning-government-issued-marble-headstones
History of Government-Furnished Headstones and Markers
Plan of National Cemetery Lodges Designed by General Montgomery Meigs
"Bivouac of the Dead" — The elegiac verse by Mexican War veteran and poet Theodore O'Hare and its presence in national cemeteries
The National Park Service determined that all national cemeteries are eligible for the NRHP regardless of age. For more information, see this 2011 guidance: National Register Eligibility of National Cemeteries - A Clarification of Policy.
'Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary' Series
A program of the National Park Service, this series consists of travel guides to historic destinations around the country, all listed on the National Register of Historic Places. VA's oldest properties are the subject of two itineraries.
Civil War Era National Cemeteries: Honoring Those Who Served
Veterans Affairs National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers
Education Tools
Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) Lesson Plans
TwHP is also a component of the National Register of Historic Places, which helps develop guidance on using historic places to teach and encourages educators, historians, preservationists and others to work together effectively. Two NCA properties are the subject of TwHP lesson plans.
- "A Nation Repays Its Debt: The National Soldiers' Home and Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio" (Dayton National Cemetery)
- "Not to Be Forgotten: Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery"
This teaching lesson — Comfortable Camps: Archaeology of the Confederate Guard Camp at the Florence Stockade—is modeled after those associated with the NPS Teaching With Historic Places program. It was developed as part of mitigation associated with NCA's expansion of Florence National Cemetery.
More Lesson Plans about places associated with national cemeteries
NOTE: Page contains links that will take you away from the VA web site.
