Sharing this story from Otterbein University - "Otterbein Professors Use Cemeteries as Teaching Tools"

How gratifying it is to learn about this educational program offered at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio. 

It is spotlighted in significant detail on the university's website on October 29, 2020. 

 It isn't often we learn of universities utilizing cemeteries as serious study tools.  

As we know, too much history has already been lost at many of Ohio's earliest cemeteries. The next generation needs to learn more about the lives of those who came before us who have been at rest in them - perhaps for more than a century. The program's scope of studies is detailed clearly throughout the report.  Familiar topics covered include: understanding carving styles and learning about the varying types of stone materials chosen at different time periods for grave markers and monuments.   

The program's focus centers on three different categories of cemeteries in the central Ohio area.:

The first one is also the largest one - the Otterbein Cemetery - with 4,533 memorials posted for it on Find A Grave.   

Next, is the Olde Methodist Cemetery, also listed on Find A Grave with 246 memorials. 

Below is the Olde Methodist Cemetery's description on Find A Grave.:

"The Methodist Cemetery was founded in 1849, when Garrit Sharp gave land to the church. There are over 200 burials in this small cemetery, but some records and some stones have been lost to time. The final burial occured in 1956. For many years, it was known as the Lincoln Street Cemetery."

And, with the smallest number of burials of the three cemeteries with eight memorials, is the Kokosing Nature Preserve that offers natural burials. 

The website for the Kokosing Nature Preserve provides further information about their natural burial option. 

I feel students enrolled in this type of program, or others similar in nature, could ultimately choose a lifetime career in any number of cemetery-related fields.  

As we have come to learn, "cemetery preservation" is in reality an umbrella term.  It encompasses a vast array of subjects with a wide range of elements pertaining to cemeteries ranging from archaeology, burial documentation, and landscape conservation measures. The hands-on learning experiences should also include how to properly clean, repair, and reset historic gravestones - the key word being properly!   

Cemeteries are hallowed grounds deserving of our respect and careful attention to their ongoing needs. They are living breathing sacred spaces holding life stories of triumphs and tragedies.  They are key to unlocking histories hidden far too long in our communities all across Ohio and America.