[or-roots] Oregon Gravestones Photo Project

[CKlooster at aol.com]

I think this is a GREAT project.  The first time I found a link to  Oregon 
cemetery projects online I was really excited...until I clicked the links  and 
found that there were very few cemetery inventories (not to mention photos)  
actually online.  If Rootsweb actually has thousands of Oregon graves, I  
haven't found them.
 
But what a good idea to create a searchable database of photos.  Now  that 
digital cameras are so inexpensive, it costs no more to snap a hundred  photos 
than it does to snap one. Much faster than the old way of copying  gravestone 
data on the back of an envelope found in the glove compartment!   Although the 
cropping and editing of the photos takes a few minutes, I do  believe that a 
bit of practice will produce good photos that don't need  editing.
 
I think the other positive aspect of an organized effort like this is that  
it may draw attention to the neglect of some of the smaller/family  cemeteries. 
 The outcome could be some brush cutting and grave  marking.  It would be a 
good family project; a way to interest children and  teens in local history.  I 
have always enjoyed walking through old  cemeteries and reading the 
inscriptions, so stopping to snap a picture takes  only a few seconds more.  In high 
school a friend and I noticed that there  were old graves in the Canyonville 
cemetery that were no longer being  tended.  So, we "adopted" several of them.  
We weeded them and used a  toothbrush to remove moss from the lettering.  It 
began as a somewhat of a  lark, but we soon developed an interest in the lives 
of the people whose graves  we were tending.
 
Carla
 
 
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