Preservation

Jason Church speaks with Kaile Luga and Ka`ohulani McGuire about cultural protocols and working in the cemeteries of Kalaupapa National Historical Park.

This article presents cemetery conservation terms and their definitions, to aid in the rapid assessment of cemeteries after a disaster. These assets were developed for FEMA by the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT).

When approaching any cemetery project, we need a basis for decision making. To make sound decisions for cemetery care and maintenance, we need a series of principles or a guiding philosophy. Fortunately, others have spent quite some time thinking about the ethics and philosophy of conservation and preservation treatments.

Cemetery stewards need to establish a preservation strategy or treatment that considers the historic character of the landscape, the significance of the features, and management goals. Developing a sensitive preservation plan that considers all of the needs and components of a property is an essential first step in this process.

There are many ways to document a gravesite each method will look at different aspects of the gravesite’s significance: Satellite images can document the site from above allowing mapping of the graves and landscape; Simple digital photographic methods are now in the hands of most people and can document monuments; ground penetrating radar can document unseen artifacts underground but can be cost and equipment prohibitive.

A Master Plan is a road map that shows us where the cemetery is and where it is going. Master plans may be quite simple or more complex and may include several sections. They should always be tailored to the needs of the individual cemetery and will develop and evolve over time.

The Kalaupapa peninsula has been called a “natural prison”, with rough and rocky ocean on three sides and 2000 feet vertical cliffs on the fourth side. This made for an ideal location to quarantine leprosy patients starting in 1866. Patients were not officially allowed to leave until 1969, when the State board of Health repealed the isolation policy. Most decided to remain at the home and community they had made in Kalaupapa and still reside there today.

Jason Church speaks with students from the University of Hawaiʻi Hilo. They talk about the students’ cemetery preservation work at Kalaupapa National Historic Park.

The value of preserving these sacred spaces allows us to understand our past and what we value as a society.

Preservation Brief #48 provides guidance for owners, property managers, administrators, in-house maintenance staff, volunteers, and others in preserving and protecting grave markers. It describes describes grave marker materials and risk factors that contribute to their decay; provides guidance for assessing their conditions, and discusses maintenance programs and various preservation treatments.