This weekend marks the second anniversary of the Tombstone Project. Pam
Reid initially launched the page as a Memorial Day activity. On her
page, she wrote:
We who research our family's history are good at remembering. We
remember often and
we remember well. But, our memories last for only as long as we are
here. The purpose of this
project is to organize volunteers who will work together to create a
lasting tribute to our
ancestors. We will transcribe tombstone inscriptions and have that
work archived for the future
and made easily accessible to all.
The tombstones of our ancestors were always meant to be
lasting memorials to the lives
of those gone before. Lately, I have been visiting old cemeteries
and have been distressed to
see how these memorials are suffering the ravages of time and
weather. Many of these stones
are becoming difficult to read and some have already gotten so faint
that deciphering them is
next to impossible. Fortunately, many are still legible TODAY. But,
of those we can read
today, how many will still be legible ten or twenty years from
today?
WE need to record these tombstone inscriptions now---before
they are lost forever to the
winds and the rains. Though many cemeteries have already been
recorded by various
Genealogical Societies, just as many have not. And, of those
recorded, how accessible is that
data to the world? If we join together and do this recording, we
will guarantee that our
ancestors an not forgotten----that their memorials will live on so
that future generations may
remember then as well as we do.
Hundreds of volunteers have joined her effort and are now documenting
those unrecorded cemeteries, and cleaning up many others.
Thanks Pam and happy anniversary to you and all your volunteers.
Linda