Program

Preservation and Access: Preservation Assistance Grants

Period of Performance

2/1/2007 - 7/31/2008

Funding Totals

$5,000.00 (approved)
$5,000.00 (awarded)


Preservation of the City of Manchester's Cemetery Records

FAIN: PG-50138-07

City of Manchester Parks, Recreation and Cemetery Departments (Manchester, NH 03104-5463)
Judith Aron (Project Director: May 2006 to July 2008)

A general preservation assessment of archives, record books, deeds, blueprints, maps, certificates, lot books, and other records documenting nine municipal cemeteries in Manchester, New Hampshire, from the 1820s through the 20th century.

The Cemetery Department of the City of Manchester, New Hampshire, under the direction of the Cemetery Supervisor, Judith Aron, and the City Archivist, Sally Fellows, proposes to hire a consultant to conduct a preservation needs assessment. The Cemetery Department has never had a formal preservation assessment in its 148-year history. The National Endowment for the Humanities grant will provide the basis for preservation and storage plans to be formulated.There are nine cemeteries in the City of Manchester Cemetery system. The Cemetery Department has record books for all, as well as blueprints and maps. The records are used extensively by genealogists wishing to locate death records of family members, family members who wish to visit family gravesites and individuals interested in the artistic features of the elaborate family tombs. The Friends of the Valley Cemetery uses the records in their goal to restore the oldest cemetery in Manchester.