Cemetery Conservation

NCPTT is providing consultation to Arlington National Cemetery on maintenance and repair of the “Tomb of the Unknowns.”

A new Perkin Elmer Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectrometric microscope was recently installed in the NCPTT research labs.

NCPTT held two TelNPS courses in January. The Essentials in Cemetery Monument Care program aired on Jan. 17 and featured cemetery and commemorative monument maintenance techniques that are sustainable, cyclic, non-invasive and do no harm.

Materials Research Chief Mary Striegel and Materials Conservator Jason Church conduct a TEL NPS course “Essentials in Cemetery Monument Care.”

NCPTT recently provided technical assistance to the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum in Shreveport regarding concerns about the condition of several archeological copper objects associated with the Gahagan burials that were excavated in the 1930s.

Materials Research Chief Mary Striegel and Materials Conservator Jason Church conduct a TEL NPS course “Essentials in Cemetery Monument Care.”

NCPTT will hold two TelNPS courses in January. The Essentials in Cemetery Monument Care program will air on Jan. 17 from 1 to 3 EST.

NCPTT held the Southeast Cemetery Monument Conservation Workshop at St. Michaels Cemetery, Pensacola, Florida on October 23-25, 2007.

NCPTT held its Southeast Cemetery Monument Conservation Workshop at St. Michaels Cemetery in Pensacola, Fla., on Oct. 23-25.

The Joint Readiness Training Center and Ft. Polk hosted their first Heritage Day Celebration on Nov. 3, 2007 at Ft. Polk, La.

NCPTT has completed filming and production of a new video about the care and preservation of iron fence work found in cemeteries.

NCPTT recently released Spanish-language translations of its “Basic Stone Monument Cleaning” and “Basic Resetting Vol. 1″ instructional videos.

Caleb Johnson recently joined NCPTT’s materials research program as a graduate assistant.

On September 29, NCPTT and the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program held a Cemetery Preservation Basics Workshop in Hot Springs, Ark.

NCPTT’s Jason Church presented the results of recent research on the scaling and deterioration of granite monuments.

Materials Conservator Jason Church demonstrates how to properly repair an iron fence.

NCPTT and the University of West Florida will host the Southeast Cemetery Monument Conservation Workshop on October 23-25 at St. Michaels Cemetery in Pensacola, Fla.

The Department of Veteran Affairs agreed to fund NCPTT’s two-year continuation of the comparative study of commercially available cleaners for use on federally issued headstones.

Jason Church and Bianca Garcia conducted a Cemetery Monument Conservation Basics workshop at City Cemetery No. 1, San Antonio, Texas on June 16, 2007.

Graveyards can be excellent resources for studying art, language, social and family history, cultural landscapes, and even the natural sciences.