Subject: | |
From: | |
Reply To: | |
Date: | Wed, 3 Jan 2007 10:42:46 -0500 |
Content-Type: | text/plain |
Parts/Attachments: |
|
|
Dear Laura,
We have done cemetery tours every year for about 15 years. The idea
sprang from a museum colleague in Ft. Collins, CO who did a tour of all the
dead museum employees buried in the local cemetery. We thought that this
sounded interesting and decided that we should do the same. Our problem
was that only the Museum's first curator was in our cemetery. So- that first
year we did important donors to the collection. We would stop at each grave-
give a brief history of their lives and then talk about the artifacts in the
collection that they had given.
In subsequent years we chose a different theme for each year's tour. We
have done artists and writers, city builders and businessmen, veterans,
artistic tombstones and even a nightime Holloween tour of murder victims
graves. We have repeated a few themes but it is usually at least five years
between repeats. We have done a couple of these in a smaller cemetery on
our City's west side and one in a cemetery in nearby Manitou Springs.
They have been extremely popular and we have had to limit the tours to 40
people maximum. One year we had over a hundred show up and had to
employ a portable PA system- something that we have vowed to never do
again.
We begin with an act of civil disobedience by having a sack lunch in the
cemetery before we begin the tour. Interestingly enough, there is a City
ordinance forbidding picnicking in the cemetery. We try to get people to
realize that cemeteries are for the living- not the dead.
Our purpose is to teach our citizens about the lives of people who have made
contributions to our community and to expose them to the very beautiful and
peaceful setting that exists in the cemetery. I would venture to say that our
staff has learned more about the history of our community by doing these
tours than anything else we have done. It allows us to connect the dots (so
to speak) between momentous (and not so momentous) community events
and activities by focusing on the lives behind those events. The tours also
generate interest among the public for preservation efforts in the cemetery.
One challenge that we have come across is that obituary details have varied
greatly through the years. Some decades had very brief entries that lack any
significant detail. So- for instance, if we come across an interesting
tombstone that we would like to include in our tour of artistic stones, and we
only find a brief obituary- we may have to skip this grave for lack of detail
about the person that we can talk about.
Another challenge is the popularity of these events. In order to limit the tours
to a group that can hear a speaker without artificial amplification we must be
careful with our publicity. We want some media coverage- but not too much.
The day that we had over a hundred was the result of a radio station
advertising the tour and telling people to just show up.
I don't know if all museums want to do this activity, but it seems to have
become increasingly popular lately. We will continue to do these tours
because they are fun and educational for us (the staff) and the public and
they enhance our mission to interpret the history and culture of our region.
If I can answer any other questions, please feel free to contact me directly.
Sincerely,
David Ryan
Registrar
Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum
www.cspm.org
=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:
The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).
If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
|
|
|