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| Save Our Cemeteries | |
|---|---|
| Name | Save Our Cemeteries |
| Formation | 1990s |
| Type | Nonprofit advocacy group |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Region served | International |
| Focus | Cemetery preservation, cultural heritage, historic landscapes |
| Methods | Preservation, legal advocacy, public education, documentation |
Save Our Cemeteries is a nonprofit advocacy and preservation organization dedicated to protecting historic burial grounds, cemeteries, and funerary landscapes. Founded by preservationists, historians, and community activists, the organization engages in documentation, legal intervention, public education, and partnerships to conserve sites threatened by neglect, development, or vandalism. Save Our Cemeteries operates within a network of heritage institutions, legal frameworks, and community groups to secure long‑term stewardship of burial places associated with diverse cultural, religious, and historical communities.
Save Our Cemeteries emerged amid late 20th‑century preservation movements responding to urban renewal projects and suburban expansion that endangered historic graveyards. Early collaborators included members formerly active with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Preservation League of New York State, Historic Charleston Foundation, Smithsonian Institution, and local historical societies such as the New-York Historical Society and the Bostonian Society. Influences and precedents traced through landmark actions like the campaigns to save Mount Auburn Cemetery, the conservation work at Arlington National Cemetery, and advocacy surrounding the National Historic Preservation Act helped shape the group's strategies. Founders drew on methodologies from the American Association for State and Local History, legal tactics used in cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and international models seen in ICOMOS and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
The stated mission centers on preserving funerary heritage for historic, aesthetic, genealogical, and cultural reasons, aligning with principles advanced by institutions such as the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, American Folklore Society, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Goals include establishing legal protections akin to those under the National Historic Landmarks Program, promoting conservation standards influenced by Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, expanding public access similar to initiatives by the National Park Service, and documenting burial sites using best practices described by the Archaeological Institute of America and the Society for Historical Archaeology.
Save Our Cemeteries runs multiple programs modeled on successful initiatives from organizations like the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Park Service. Programs include field surveys informed by protocols from the Historic American Landscapes Survey, community volunteer burial ground cleanups inspired by local chapters of the Audubon Society and Sierra Club, and archival digitization partnerships referencing methods used by the Library of Congress Digital Collections. Educational workshops and teacher resources echo curricula developed by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and the National Council for the Social Studies. Legal clinics and pro bono representation coordinate with bar associations such as the American Bar Association and public interest law organizations exemplified by the ACLU and the Historic Preservation Advocacy Clinic.
The organization's advocacy work intersects with landmark statutes and regulatory frameworks including the National Historic Preservation Act, state historic preservation offices affiliated with the National Park Service, and municipal preservation ordinances modeled after those in Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, and Philadelphia. Save Our Cemeteries has submitted amicus briefs in court proceedings referenced alongside cases adjudicated in the United States Supreme Court and federal appellate courts, collaborated with elected officials comparable to those on state historic commissions, and participated in rulemaking processes at agencies similar to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Its policy recommendations echo guidance from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Partnerships span cultural and scientific institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, National Archives and Records Administration, American Alliance of Museums, and university programs at institutions like Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Virginia, and Harvard University. Funding sources include foundation grants comparable to awards from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and regional preservation funds similar to the New York State Council on the Arts. Corporate philanthropy, individual donors, and in‑kind contributions from landscape firms and conservation specialists—mirroring support structures used by the Getty Foundation and the Metropolitan Museum of Art—supplement program revenue.
High‑profile campaigns have involved collaborations to save endangered sites analogous to preservation efforts at Green‑Wood Cemetery, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, Mount Olivet Cemetery, and urban burial grounds threatened by infrastructure projects similar to highways contested in cases like Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City. Outcomes include securing local landmark designations, conservation easements modeled after transactions overseen by the Trust for Public Land, archaeological investigations coordinated with the Society for American Archaeology, and legislative wins that strengthened protections in several states. The organization’s documentation projects have been incorporated into collections held by the Library of Congress and university archives, facilitating genealogical research used by groups such as the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society.
Critiques mirror tensions faced by preservation groups elsewhere, including debates about prioritization similar to those involving the National Trust for Historic Preservation and conflicts over cultural sensitivity encountered by institutions like the Smithsonian Institution. Challenges include limited funding akin to nonprofit sector constraints, legal complexities comparable to disputes in federal courts, competing land‑use pressures referencing cases before municipal planning boards, and ethical questions over excavation practices debated within the Society for Historical Archaeology and the Archaeological Institute of America. Critics have argued for more community‑led decision making as advocated by organizations such as Preservation Maryland and Cultural Heritage without Borders, prompting ongoing reforms in the group's stakeholder engagement.
Category:Historic preservation organizations Category:Cemetery conservation