Announcing the new Cemeterist Project! [closed]

+64 votes
3.9k views

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We are pleased to announce that the Global Cemeteries Project is reorganizing as a functional project and relaunching as the new Cemeterist Project! This change will help us to better align with our member badge, as well as serve as the foundation to better support WikiTree during the Year of Accuracy.

In order to meet WikiTree's global mission, and the goals of this project, our members will be those who volunteer to partake in a series of tasks in their local areas, from start to finish:

  • photographing tombstones, markers, monuments, and memorials;
  • transcribing the data contained within these photographs to ancestor profiles, while also ensuring that all duplicates are merged to the lowest number;
  • honor our ancestors by creating biographies that conform to the WikiTree Style Guide, and are connected to the main WikiTree family tree;
  • finding and adding additional reliable sources for the profiles we create or edit (e.g., Birth, Marriage, and Death Records; Census Records;);
  • identifying and grouping these profiles through the use of relevant cemetery and regional categories; and
  • documenting the history of cemeteries through the use of free-space pages.

If you have your camera in hand and are ready to start working your local cemeteries, please submit your 'Answer' below and let us know what area you will be documenting cemeteries in!

GCP Members, please submit a new request to join the Cemeterist Project!

closed with the note: New signup thread available at: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1213006
in Requests for Project Volunteers by Steven Harris G2G6 Pilot (738k points)
closed by Steven Harris
Hi Everyone, I am hiding all top-level comments.

If you would like to join the project, please provide an 'ANSWER' to this post.

If you would like more information, or have any questions for a Project Leader, please contact me privately via my profile.

Hi there! I want to join. I live in Santiago, Chile. And (this is a one day offer!) I'm visiting Buenos Aires, Argentina and I'm open to special requests if there's any particular need of taking photographs or gathering information.

147 Answers

+13 votes
Sign me up for Northeast Iowa.....specifically, Howard, Mitchell, Chickasaw counties!!!
by Staci Golladay G2G6 Mach 6 (61.0k points)

Thanks, we have you signed up now!

+13 votes
I guess you should add me to the Canada/BC list, but I "work" all over Canada.
by Kathryn Penner G2G6 Mach 6 (60.8k points)

Thanks, we have you signed up now!

+13 votes
Sign me up. I am in the Prince Edward Island Cemetery project.
by Dawn Ellis G2G6 Pilot (102k points)

Thanks, we have you signed up now!

+13 votes
I am happy to work on small rural cemeteries in the Central Highlands Region of Victoria, especially around Ballarat - I have already done some photography and transcription for cemeteries in Creswick, Learmonth, Clunes, Pootila/Bungaree and Symthesdale. Plus some for Whitcliffe and Lake Bolac and would be happy to document some of the ones from Stawell
by Freda Ackroyd G2G4 (4.2k points)

Thanks, we have you signed up now!

+13 votes
I would be interested in participating if I can help in the Tucson, Arizona, area. Thanks.
by Pam Smith G2G6 Mach 2 (28.0k points)

Hi Pam,

We are always looking for help! I have you added down for Arizona. If you need some guidance, please see the Getting Started Guide!

+13 votes
I'd like to continue helping add cemetery and other relevant categories to people and adding new cemetery free spaces as necessary. Thanks.
by S O'Donley G2G5 (5.6k points)

Hi S,

This project is for those who are actively documenting cemeteries, taking photos, and creating profiles based on that research.

We appreciate you adding categories to profiles; however, this action alone does not support our mission and goals. Perhaps you would like to show of your participation through the display of the {{Member|Cemeterist Affiliate}} sticker?

I am doing that. I guess the primary purpose is the first bullet point, not the rest of them?

"honor our ancestors by creating biographies that conform to the WikiTree Style Guide, and are connected to the main WikiTree family tree;

finding and adding additional reliable sources for the profiles we create or edit (e.g., Birth, Marriage, and Death Records; Census Records;);

identifying and grouping these profiles through the use of relevant cemetery and regional categories; and

documenting the history of cemeteries through the use of free-space pages."

I am doing that. I guess the primary purpose is the first bullet point, not the rest of them?

The tasks are a series of steps that a Cemeterist will follow (in fact, I just changed the bullet points to numbers so that hopefully it is clearer that these are sequential tasks).

So the first task, 'photographing tombstones, markers, monuments, and memorials' is the only way in which tasks 2-6 can be completed using our own original research.

Also, on another note - Have you saw our Elements Cooperative yet? You may be interested in working the Data Operations, which you can do as a badged member of the Project!

There will be more information on this coming out this week!

+13 votes
Hi Steve, sounds great! I would like to rejoin please. I am working on cemeteries in Western Australia.
by Kylie Haese G2G6 Mach 8 (88.0k points)
We have you down for Australia, thanks Kylie!

Thanks Steve smiley

+13 votes
Please add me to the new cemeterist project. Still California.

Janice
by Janice Sutherland G2G6 Mach 7 (72.0k points)

We have you down for the project now! If you need some additional guidance, you can check out the Getting Started Guide!

+13 votes
I’d like to continue working in County Antrim and maybe the odd bit in Galway if we’re ever allowed out of the house again.

Johanne
by J Alexander G2G6 (8.0k points)

We have you down for the project now! If you need some additional guidance, you can check out the Getting Started Guide!

+13 votes
I would like to continue working Georgia.  Thanks.
by Robin Price G2G2 (2.2k points)

We have you down for the project not! If you need some additional guidance, you can check out the Getting Started Guide!

+12 votes
I'm in, too!! I'll be working in Illinois -- I still have a bunch of photos from the cemetery down the road that I need to work on.
by Julie Ricketts G2G6 Pilot (481k points)
Thanks Julie! I have you down!
+13 votes
Hi,

I will do this any time I can. Don't know about photography yet though. But when I do feel ready the neighborhood will have a nice wacky person spending his life in cemeteries. I really think there should be a South Africa or even, Africa section added.
by Anonymous Anonymous G2G6 Mach 6 (69.1k points)
Hi Francis, our areas are added as members join and become available. We have a very wide cemetery-user base already, and cemeteries available in Africa!

Will you be working in the South Africa area?
Yes,

My family and most of their relatives have been in SA for 11 generations. LOTS of graves. I love to transcribe or do any work that I can, I don't usually visit graves but love to do any online work associated.

Hi Francis, you may be a good fit for Data Operations! While we may not see many transcription opportunities in SA at this time, would you be interested in helping us out by transcribing photos from other areas?

Hi Steve,

I would love to. Just want to make sure you know that if I do not participate for a month or two then I am doing my own family history research but whenever I have time I will help as much as I can. Another thing would be, I can speak and read English fluently (obviously) and I have a high degree of understanding of Afrikaans and I know basic dutch (very basic). So I will be able to aid a translating a little. To think of it I do have a vague understanding of Xhosa. Seems school extra languages may have paid off.
+13 votes
Based on the tasks I spend most of my effort as an affiliate using cemetery categories, creating categories if they don’t exist and using the {{FindAGrave}} template

I do take photos of grave markers in Lane County, OR to create new profiles mostly of Veterans.  I also take photos at relevant CA cemeteries where distant cousins are buried but that is the lesser of my effort
by Terry Poole G2G6 Mach 1 (15.9k points)
+13 votes
I used to do this for the Military Markers at the 4 Cemeteries in San Angelo, Texas before I moved back to my hometown roots area in North East Texas.  I would take trips to the 4 Cemeteries around San Angelo (I lived in the Subdivision area of Buffalo Heights, approximately 9 miles from town), photograph the military markers and then search Find A Grave and if no memorial, create one.  I would also create a Memorial Page on the website, https://www.togetherweserved.com, especially if they were WWII Service Personnel.  I now live in Marshall, Texas (Harrison County), but have friends that I visit from time to time in Longview (Gregg County).  I also can travel to neighboring counties of Rusk, Panola, Marion, Upsher and Smith...major cities in these counties include Tyler (Smith), Carthage (Panola), Jefferson (Marion), Gilmer (Upsher), Henderson/Palestine (Rusk).  I had submitted a request answer for the older cemeteries project, but never heard anything.  I would like to maybe get back into this as I have many distant family that have roots in some of the mentioned counties.  All counties mentioned are within an hours drive (in good weather that is, Lol...if you have seen the weather across the state of Texas this week, it is a mess).
by David Owens G2G5 (5.8k points)
Great Service !
+12 votes
I am located in West Tennessee. I have taken many headstone photos for my family tree. Burial places offer a very good research tool. I will be glad to help with the effort.

Edit: I'm looking at the guide now... I can also help with keying in information if needed.
by Living Dodd G2G1 (1.2k points)
edited by Living Dodd

We have you down for the project not! If you need some additional guidance, you can check out the Getting Started Guide!

More details will be coming soon for Data Operations (transcription assistance), so stay tuned and keep an eye out for the upcoming G2G post!

+12 votes
I'm interested in joining. I recently came across a site for a Devon cemetery where all the burials have been documented and photographed and the information is freely available with no copyright so I'd be happy to transcribe it and create profiles etc. if you think that's appropriate? Also I could look at some of the local cemeteries in my corner of Carmarthenshire in due course.
by Jutta Beer G2G6 Mach 6 (67.1k points)

Hi Jutta,

One of the founding principles of Cemeterist work is using original biographies, and content, and not copied text and images from other websites. This would however be a noble effort we would appreciate under our Affiliate membership!

If you would like to work local cemeteries in your area, just let us know and we can get you signed up!

Thanks Steve, I'd be happy to do this as an Affiliate member if that's more appropriate. I'll let you know when I'm ready to do some local work.
+12 votes
Hi, I could make a start on cemeteries in Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain
by Irene Magrath G2G1 (1.7k points)

We have you down for the project now! If you need some additional guidance, you can check out the Getting Started Guide!

Thank you Steve, yes, I had eventually found this.smiley

+11 votes
Sounds great; impressed with the specific task details. Please include me for Maine (primarily southwest).
by Diane Shepherd G2G2 (2.0k points)

We have you down for the project not! If you need some additional guidance, you can check out the Getting Started Guide!

+12 votes
I'm interested in this project and would like to contribute. I have a fair number of stones photographed for my personal tree which I could add to this site. Time is my biggest constraint right now but I'll contribute when possible. Most of the cemeteries I'm working on are in Colchester, Halifax and Pictou Counties of Nova Scotia, Canada
by Richard Graham G2G1 (1.8k points)

We have you down for the project now! We know time and travel can be hard during the winter months, especially with the pandemic still forcing lock-downs in some areas - we completely understand!

If you need some additional guidance once you are ready, you can check out our Getting Started Guide!

+12 votes
Yes!  I’d love to participate in the Baton Rouge, LA area.
by Elaine Evers G2G Crew (840 points)

We have you down for the project now! If you need some additional guidance, you can check out the Getting Started Guide!

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