In response to this thread started last week, I would like to draw your
attention to the Evergreen Cemetery volunteer docent group operating through
the Santa Cruz County Museum of Art and History, in Santa Cruz, CA. A check
with the web site "santacruzmah.org/history" indicates that they are still
doing this, as the museum's governing body does own and administer Evergreen
Cemetery, a now inactive (for burials) pioneer cemetery and historic site.

In the early 1970's if not before, a volunteer group began just as others
have described, by cleaning up the cemetery and doing little presentations
on the more publicized people buried there (all of those buried in the
county's first Protestant cemetery played a role in the "Americanization" of
Santa Cruz). By the 1980s this was a vigorous and popular interpretive
program, and included a cemetery survey with headstone classifications that
I worked on as Curator. Schoolchildren and adults who toured the cemetery
were surrounded by a sense of community place, as every path, every stone
bore a name they now knew as a street, a school, a neighborhood.

The museum's archives held a substantial archive of cemetery records which
became the source for historical interpretation, enhanced by obituaries,
newspaper archives and even medical records. As more volunteers
participated, they took on individual studies of such things as the history
of epidemics, suicides, womens history, and comparative social and ethnic
studies with other cemeteries in the county. It became over time a
well-coordinated, beautifully documented history resource.  Among the
lasting benefits were the reversal of interest of a ghoulish cult who had
previously used the cemetery for destructive rituals and soon became its
protectors, and the distribution of FEMA funds for restoration after the
1988 earthquake did incredible damage to many of the carved stone spires and
towering monuments. Also, the meaningful public interpretation inspired the
(guilt-ridden) return of several headstones that had been stolen over the
years.

Please contact MAH through "santacruzmah.org/history" for more information
on the public benefit and response to this activity.

Micki Ryan, Director
Orcas Island Historical Museum
POB 134, Eastsound WA 98245
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-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Laura Wheaton
Sent: Thursday, December 28, 2006 1:30 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: cemetery walks


I'm curious about what you all think about this type of program. What
purpose
does it serve? Are they worthwhile, and why? What challenges do you face in
implementation? Do all museums want to put one on? why or why not?

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