[Gregory Vogel]: My hope for the database is that, along with the linked map and photographs, it will become a 'virtual cemetery'. Most cemetery databases I've seen contain names and dates, and sometimes include an epitaph or note the gravestone motifs. The Evergreen database contains everything we record about the gravestones and all other permanent features of the cemetery.
I think it will be very useful for descendents, genealogists, historians, and anyone interested in cemetery studies. Even though it's not yet complete, we've already used the database to help people conducting family research find relatives buried at Evergreen. I think it may be of interest to students for research projects too--the different epitaphs and motifs, religious language and symbols, and the use of gendered kinship terms, for example, are all rich areas for anthropological research projects.
The database may also be useful in future preservation efforts at Evergreen as a benchmark of cemetery conditions. Evergreen, like many other cemeteries, has unfortunately experienced a fair amount of vandalism, and many of the stones are broken, toppled over, or missing. It will be much easier to keep track of the vandalism, as well as natural weathering and aging of the stones, when all of them are fully recorded.
The trick is to make the database easily accessible. Right now it is a simply a raw database and you need to know how to use Microsoft Access or some other database interface in order to search or use the data. Many people who would like to make use of the database don't know how to use these programs, though. I'm currently looking into different ways of making the database easily accessible on-line in a format that is easy to search.
Community Involvement at Evergreen
How did you get people in the community involved? How involved are they? What kinds of things are they involved in doing for the project?After a few semesters of student work on the project, I realized we would need more help if we were ever going to get the cemetery entirely recorded. The students do a great job, but this project only lasted 1 to 2 weeks of the semester, so progress was slow. I put out a general call for volunteers one summer, and received a great response. Besides the students, I think over 60 volunteers have helped with the project so far. There is a 'core' group of 12 or so who have really done most of the work. The volunteers have helped with all aspects of the project: mapping, recording, photographing, and entering forms into the database. Several have gone on to use the methods they learned at Evergreen to record other cemeteries, and this makes me particularly happy.
What pieces of the Evergreen project are you most proud of? What is next?
I am most proud that the project has been conducted almost entirely by students and volunteers. The students aren't exactly 'volunteers', of course, but many of them have come back to help out on a purely volunteer basis over the summer.
The University of Arkansas is a Land-Grant institution, and I am happy that this project furthers all three of its primary goals of education, research, and service. The project has furthered the education of U. of A. students as an engaging, hands-on exercise that demonstrates several archaeological principles and deepens their appreciation of local history; it is real-world research that has applications in several fields, including genealogy, history, and anthropology; and in documenting an important historic resource it is service to the local community.
When the database is complete and everything is on-line I hope to expand the web site to include more background on the history and the individuals buried there. I'd also like to set up a system where family members or historians can "personalize" entries by adding pictures and text of their own. When someone visiting the site calls up the entry on Sophia Sawyer, for example, I'd like them to be able to read a little bit about her (she was a prominent educator in Northwest Arkansas, and started the Fayetteville Female Academy in 1840), and add any information they may have.
