A Neverending Task

Halloween’s just around the corner, and to get into the spooky spirit, FM hiked to Mount Auburn Cemetery. A series of Monument Inscription Workshops are held monthly in the graveyard’s historic quarter where, crouched down beside weathered headstones, volunteers learn the ins and outs of deciphering and recording the century-old epitaphs.

With an ongoing preservation initiative, the cemetery plans to record the inscriptions of all its 19th century inhabitants, from Victorian hotshots (like poet Henry W. Longfellow, cookbook author Fannie Farmer, and clergyman and Harvard alum Phillips Brooks) to its less notable grave-dwellers.

"The project is important because the inscriptions are deteriorating," Education and Visitor Services Assistant Jessica A. Bussman said.

The recording is no easy task. With marble gravestones dating back to the 1800s, words have been wind-whipped to smears and many numbers are barely recognizable. Nonetheless, the cemetery staff and active body of ten volunteers read on, determined to decode every last name and date.

"They really tell the stories of the people they’re commemorating," Bussman said of the inscriptions.

Volunteers and staff use flashlights and mirrors to help decipher the worn lettering. Or, when all else fails, they turn to Google books to fill in missing poems or biblical quotes.

"I enjoy [the project] in the same way I like crossword puzzles and other puzzles—it’s fun!" Bussman said.

And what better place for a fun activity than the old bone yard? Though it may seem creepy to camp out in the cemetery, volunteers appear unfazed.

"Some people do have an interest in the macabre," Preservation and Facilities Manager Natalie M. Wampler said. "But I think more come for the horticulture and the history. Most people don’t come to do odd things."

"I don’t ever find it morbid," volunteer Jennifer D. Losciuto said. "I don’t ever feel frightened at all—well, if I was here by myself at night, maybe..."

Students interested in preservation work should look out for follow-up events in the Mount Auburn Cemetery Web site, before they’re buried alive under mountains of homework.