Volunteer Service Project: Documenting Holt Cemetery
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
9:00am – 2:00pm
Holt Cemetery, established in 1879, is located in the Mid-City neighborhood of New Orleans. Holt diverges from other cemeteries in New Orleans because the burials are underground, instead of in the iconic tombs used in the rest of the city. Holt is an operating cemetery, mainly used for burials of the poor and often referred to as a “Potter’s Field.” Graves are marked with personal, handmade markers instead of the traditional marble or granite head stones. Although the cemetery is operated by the City of New Orleans, the onus is on the families of the interred to maintain the individual plots. Lack of funds, poor drainage and neglect all contribute to the cemetery’s current poor condition. Many of the graves in Holt are unmarked and overall the cemetery is in a state of disarray.
Come help Save Our Cemeteries document the current condition of Holt Cemetery. We will be surveying individual graves and taking photos to create an archive of the state of the cemetery as a baseline-- to compare to pre-Katrina photos and also to serve as a database for future stabilization/restoration efforts. This project will be the groundwork for a future archaeological survey of the cemetery.
Save Our Cemeteries is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the historic cemeteries of Louisiana, and to fostering a public appreciation for their architectural and cultural significance.
If you are interested in volunteering, please email Kelley Bazydlo at asormtgs@bu.edu to reserve your spot.
Holt Cemetery picture by Judi Bottoni.