The Cemeteries of Danbury, Connecticut

The Association for Gravestone Studies

holds their annual conference each year in June.  In 2017, our group gathered in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  This year, 2018, we took the studies northward to Danbury, Connecticut.

Giving myself a few extra days for travel, I visited and studied cemeteries from Polk County, Tennessee through New York City and onward to Danbury.

The range of topics at these conferences are wide and varied.  This year’s offerings included many workshops including: gravestone preservation, cemetery photography, legal issues affecting graveyards, forensic studies of burials, and ground penetrating radar.

For my part of the conference, I revisited a daylong workshop I lead in 2016 on the art of cemetery mapping using various modern day technological tools including aerial 3D mapping using modern day drones.  This year, my presentation was brief but quite a few people showed enough interest that I will consider leading a full-day workshop at a future conference. 

During the night-time hours, academics within the group present formal lectures.  Afterward, during our late-night participation, informal lectures and slide shows are given.

Cemetery Presentations

Since the volcano eruption on Hawaii is in the news this year, I presented my work during a recent trip to Hawaii where I studied lava affected cemeteries on the Big Island.  I loved my trip to study Hawaiian Cemeteries and I hope to make a return trip to Hawaii one day soon.

I am involved with studying cemeteries (in some capacity) on a daily basis. The AGS Conference is the one time of the year I am surrounded by other cemetery people for a week at a time. The breadth and depth of knowledge of these cemetery researchers is truly inspiring. I come away from each conference with newfound knowledge that I try to apply to my passion.

Increasingly, Civic Organizations, Churches, and Schools are asking me to give presentations of my cemetery research. I always try to exhibit the knowledge and enthusiasm I garner from my AGS conference trips.

Driving back from Danbury, I visited quite a few cemeteries including Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery.

20 Cemeteries and a Cemetery Research Video

In all, I studied more than 20 cemeteries on this trip.  At the bottom of this list is a short film I made of my travels.

Beckler Cemetery – Reliance, Tennessee
Double Springs Cemetery – Rock Springs, Tennessee
Beth El Cemetery – Harrisonburg City, Virginia
New York Marble Cemetery – New York, New York
Woodlawn Cemetery – Bronx, New York
Mill Plain Cemetery – Danbury, Connecticut
Resurrection Cemetery – Danbury, Connecticut
Kenosia Cemetery – Danbury, Connecticut
Wooster Cemetery – Danbury, Connecticut
New Haven Crypt – New Haven, Connecticut
Grove Street Cemetery – New Haven, Connecticut
Old Milford Cemetery – Milford, Connecticut
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery – Sleepy Hollow, New York
Millington Baptist Church Cemetery – Millington, New Jersey
St. Philip and St. James Cemetery – Greenwich Township, New Jersey
New Hope Congregational Christian Church Cemetery – New Hope, Virginia
Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery – Lexington, Virginia
Goodman Cemetery – Bristol, Virginia
Necessary Cemetery – Scott County, Virginia
Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery – Bristol, Virginia
Niota Cemetery – Niota, Tennessee
Cedar Grove Cemetery – Athens, Tennessee