Talk 20 Slides 16-20

Wow, did life get busy. Shortly after my talk my Daddy passed away. And, as I felt things slowing down from all that comes with that we had the opportunity to purchase a downtown building after a 2+ year search. So, here we are in July!

Let's wrap up the slides.

Slide 16: Eastside Cemetery & Talking Tombstones

Eastside Cemetery is also the location for Talking Tombstones, an annual fundraiser of the Hutchinson Theatre Guild. Since 2007 actors have portrayed the lives of over 50 people buried at Eastside. Many of them were prominent citizens responsible for the development of our city.

Others were stories that needed to be remembered like the murder of the 5 Moore children and Laura Fife, a young black girl that fell to her death from the roller coaster in Riverside Park, present day Carey Park.  

Mark your calendars for October 24^th for the 9^th annual Talking Tombstones and support your local theatre guild.

Slide 17: Cemetery Sign Project

In 2009 I coordinated a project for the Reno Co Genealogical Society to place signs at 17 cemeteries in the county that did not have one. Through a grant from Honoring Our Ancestors and fundraising efforts we were able to complete the project.

The signs were installed by cemetery caretakers and members of our genealogical society, Dwayne & Vivian Gobin and Jay and Jeannie Moore.

This was an important project, not only to help researchers find a cemetery, but especially for those burials located in rural and remote locations, including fields that are farmed around them.

The Hutchinson News and The Clarion helped us share our project with the community.

Slide 18: Cemetery Bookshelf  
I have a small library of books that offer informational, educational and entertaining cemetery resources, including several on signs and symbolism.

Among my favorites are:Stories in Stone, Forever Dixie, Going Out in Style by Douglas Keister; Soul in the Stone, Cemetery Art from America’s Heartland by John Gary Brown;  And books about some of the wonderful cemeteries I’ve visited like Bonaventure in Savannah GA that was featured in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. And, Bellfontaine in St. Louis, as one book notes is filled with Movers, shakers and scalawags. 

Slide 19: Love in the cemetery
We can find much more than death in the cemetery. Sometimes we find love. Jon is a civil war re-enactor and Kristen was a reporter for the Hutchinson News when they met at Eastside Cemetery.

It was during a headstone dedication for John Crooms, a civil war veteran born into slavery in Kentucky and died a free man in Hutchinson in 1922.

Jon & Kristen are getting married this Spring.

Slide 20: Where to find me
To date I have photographed over 360 cemeteries across 13 states, that total thousands of photographs. I share bits and pieces on my blogs, Digital Cemetery Walk  and Eastside Cemetery while I continue to add to my collection of photographs, maps, brochures, books, interment lists and anything else cemetery related.

I almost started my talk with “My name is Gale and I collect dead people.” Instead, I’ll leave you with this:

Cemeteries offer an afternoon of discovery and History remembers the famous-----genealogy remembers everyone.

Waiting on Spring

It feels like it has been Winter forever. After a week of wonderful warm days we are back to cold gray skies. Sigh. I have a short list of post ideas and need to carve out the time to get back on a blogging schedule.

We're in the middle of a major remodel, which affects my work space, and I am continuing to oversee the care of my Daddy. He health has declined rapidly since last summer. Prayers are appreciated.

I can always count on these to get me through the dreary days. I love my small library of cemetery related books, along with others on genealogy, photography and cooking.

Cemetery Book

I finished scanning my cemetery bookshelf using the app Codex. And just in time for my newest arrival.

I found a used copy of this book on Amazon.com. Sometimes you can find really nice copies for half the original cost. It is a beautiful book.

I made a quick visit to Elmwood Cemetery while in the area for an event. I'm looking forward to matching the information with some of my photos.

Elmwood Cemetery
Jackson Co., MO

Walks & Books Update

I recently updated my cemetery walks list. I really thought it was closer to 350 but I guess not. I know how to fix that :)

I am working on updating my bookshelf. The project of "home library" has been on my to-do list forever. I started out manually creating this document but fell behind on other categories while I kept up a little better on the cemetery category.

To speed things up I am experimenting with the Android App Codex. I selected this one for its ease and ability to export the list. And, it's free!

I started by: (see photo below)

1. Scanning the ISBN code on the books. It found and generated the listing for me. On the booklets without a code I manually entered as much data as I felt I needed in the default menu 
2. In the Other menu I tagged it as my cemetery category and
3. In the personal menu I checked that I own this book and if I have read it

These photos reflect:

1. Collections created: Cemetery is the only one so far
2. Categories created from the book based on ISBN data
3. The books in the cemetery collection

If I like it I will expand to include the rest of our home library. Features that will be useful to me: the ability to create a wishlist and able to check and see if I own a book from anywhere as long as I have my phone.

Using the Codex app export function these are the books I need to add to my bookshelf list:

• Bellefontaine Cemetery: Civil War Tour Booklet, Bellefontaine Cemetery Association
• Bellefontaine Cemetery: A Journey Through History, Bellefontaine Cemetery Association
• Final Thoughts, Eternal Beauty in Stone, John Thomas Grant
• Forever L.A., A Field Guide to Los Angeles Area Cemeteries & Their Residents, Douglas Keister
• Historic Bonaventure Cemetery, Photographs from the Collection of the Georgia Historical Society, Mandi Dale Johnson;Mandi Johnson;Amie Marie Wilson;Historical Society Georgia
• Movers and Shakers, Scalawags and Suffragettes, Tales from Bellefontaine Cemetery, 1849-2006, Carol Ferring Shepley
• Savannah's Laurel Grove Cemetery, John Walker Guss
• Savannah Cemeteries,  Matthew Propst
• Stony Point Church and Cemetery, And Historic Hickory Point, Ruth Endicott Brown
• Tales Behind the Tombstones, The Deaths and Burials of the Old West's Most Nefarious Outlaws, Notorious Women, and Celebrated Lawmen, Chris Enss

The photo above reflects the book list on my phone (Droid X2). I exported the file as .CSV so that I could open it in Excel on my laptop, which is reflected on the computer screen behind my phone.

Technology is wonderful. Technology in our hobbies: genealogy, cemeteries, photography, cooking, etc makes me a happy girl.

Many of you know that I love photography...I am planning to incorporate Lightroom 4 into my organization and keyword tagging of my many thousands of cemetery photos. You'll be hearing about that somewhere down the road.

I know there are so many options out there. What do you use? 

New Book

I've been waiting on this book for a long time. And it was worth the wait. John has put into book form what many of us already know and experience when we take a cemetery walk.

I became online friends with John and was very surprised when I got to the acknowledgement page of the book and found my name. Thanks, John.

I will spend many more hours going back through to enjoy the beauty it contains.

Stop by Amazon or Barnes and Noble and order your copy.

New Books

I added a few new books to my bookshelf. I saw some beautiful cemeteries while in Savannah last week.

New book

I added a new book to my cemetery bookshelf:

Waiting

I've pre-ordered 2 books I've been waiting on. Great prices on Amazon.com.

 Stories in Stone: New York by Douglas Keister
















Final Thoughts: Eternal Beauty in Stone by John Thomas Grant

New Book

I've been in my hometown of Columbus, GA a lot in the last 2 1/2 months, since Daddy broke his hip and suffered a stroke. I had the opportunity to take a few walks through Linwood Cemetery and also picked up this book. I see something new every time I visit. I would love to photograph every stone there.

My blog header photo is taken from a tombstone at Linwood.

Memorial Art, Ancient and Modern

Online resource: Google eBook.
Read online or download as PDF

Memorial Art, Ancient and Modern
by Harry Augustus Bliss, 1912

Illustrations and descriptions of the
worlds most notable examples of
cemetery memorials.

Chapters 

1. Famous Ancient Memorials
2. The Mausoleums of the World
3. The Sarcophagus
4. The Exedra in Memorial Design
5. The Cross
6. The Tablet
7. Sculpture and its Relation to the Present
8. The Obelisk and Square Monument 
9. Architectural orders in Monumental Work
10. Suggestions on Lettering
11. Mouldings and Comparison of Architectural Orders
12. Glossary

Stories in Stone New York

A sneak peek at Douglas Keister's new book:



I can't wait to add it to my library!

Bookshelf Updated

I moved a book from wishlist to my bookshelf.

Enss, Chris. Tales Behind the Tombstones; The Deaths and Burials of the Old West’s Most Nefarious Outlaws, Notorious Women and Celebrated Lawmen. 2007.

I've peeked inside but will try to save it for a road trip coming up.

What interesting or favorite books do you have on your bookshelf?

Researching a Photographer

Marion William Bailey - Part 1

Today I am interviewing the 80 year old grandson of an early day Hutchinson photographer, Marion W. Bailey. I have been researching Bailey for someone writing a book on a large collection of his photos.

It will be nice to finally see a photo of the photographer!

I research many people [along with cemeteries] but have never had a project include two of my favorite hobbies...photography and cemeteries [genealogy].

More to come...

Bean Cemetery
Rice Co., KS

Stories in Stone Traveling Exhibition

More about the Stories in Stone Traveling Exhibition by Douglas Keister. You can read my blog interview with Doug HERE.

Thanks to Lisa & John at The Passion Projects for providing this information.

A traveling exhibition based on Doug Keister’s highly acclaimed book, “Stories in Stone,” is available to all qualifying organizations on a month-by-month basis for the shipping cost and a modest exhibition fee.

As the leading authority on cemetery symbolism and iconography, Doug’s exhibition will guide your visitors through the significance of the language of cemetery symbols, which were designed to speak to future generations about the deceased bearer of same. In a very real sense, memorials erected to the dead are the material representatives of those now departed, and we often draw our impressions of what these persons must have been like from the things we find upon them. They say that cemeteries may exist more for the living than the dead. Only to a point. Whatever one may think about cemeteries, we, as well as they, want to be remembered. Doug teaches us to do that.

Doug’s recent appearance on “CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood” program, speaks to the esteem rendered upon this most talented, knowledgeable, preeminent authority on the subject of cemetery symbolism. Douglas Keister has given his Stories in Stone presentations in dozens of cities all over America and at prestigious locations like the Cooper-Union in New York City, Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, and The Smithsonian in Washington DC.

The self-contained exhibition comes complete with 2 double-sided screens and 1 kiosk styled screen; 3 display racks (others available) and 1 introductory display panel. Display materials include: 1 Introductory roll-up panel, 43 13x19 panels with velcro, 10 20x24 panels with velcro. Lights do not come with exhibit, but may be suitable for darker location.

For more information:

The Passion Projects
Lisa Griffiths-Lewis – lisa@victorianalady.com
John Thomas Grant – jtgrant19@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Passion-Projects/133921303297945?ref=ts

Blog Interview with Douglas Keister

Photographer-writer Douglas Keister has authored and co-authored thirty-eight critically acclaimed books. He also writes and illustrates magazine articles and contributes photographs and essays to dozens of magazines, newspapers, books, calendars, posters and greeting cards worldwide.

Most of us, cemetery bloggers, know of him for his cemetery books: [1] Going Out In Style, [2] Stories in Stone, [3] Forever Dixie and [4]Forever L. A. His 5th cemetery book, Forever New York, will be published in the Fall. I hope he will continue to author cemetery books because they fill a void for those of us that love the beauty and historical aspect of a cemetery.

Doug was very kind to agree to this informal blog interview. Let’s learn a little more about him.

New Book

Richard Waterhouse of Waterhouse Symbolism has released a book. Be sure to visit his website and sign up to get his monthly newsletter.

Sacred Symbols of Oakland
A Guide to the Many Sacred Symbols of Atlanta's Oldest Public Cemetery.

Art for free in Paris?

Paris' cemeteries are beautiful and free.

Read this article by author Douglas Keister here!

Don't forget you can follow Doug Keister on facebook. He's working on his next book, Forever New York, due out in 2011.

Article by Doug Keister

Doug Keister, author of my favorite cemetery books, has an article online that I would like to share with you. Please take time to leave your comments - so they will ask him to write future articles. And, if you are on facebook, stop by and ask him to be your friend so you can keep up with him. He has another book in the works that will be released in 2011.

Here are the books I have:

• Keister, Douglas. Stories in Stone; A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography. Layton, Utah. Gibbs Smith. 2004.

• Keister, Douglas. Forever Dixie; A Field Guide to Southern Cemeteries and Their Residents. Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. 2008.

• Keister, Douglas. Forever L.A.; A Field Guide to Los Angeles Cemeteries and Their Residents. Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. 2010.

• Keister, Douglas. Going Out In Style; The Architecture of Eternity. New York: Facts on File, Inc. 1997.

New Books

I have added these two books to my cemetery bookshelf:

• Keister, Douglas. Forever L.A.; A Field Guide to Los Angeles Cemeteries and Their Residents. Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. 2010.
• Strangstand, Lynette. A Graveyard Preservation Primer. AltaMira Press. 1995

The other day [on facebook] I asked Douglas Keister about his next book. Forever New York is what he is working on now and it's expected to release late 2011. I believe this will be his 5th cemetery book. I have the other 4 and the original Stories in Stone and Forever Dixie are my favorite, followed by Going Out in Style and Forever L.A. He does other photography too. He could probably photograph doorknobs and make a good book out of it.

Would you buy this book?

Help! I need your opinion.

I'm considering pre-ordering this book. Would you buy it based on the description given?

Please share your comments!

And, does anyone own these books or have seen them?

• Country Churchyards by Eudora Welty, 2000
• American Military Cemeteries by Dean W. Holt, 2009

Thanks.