The most recent news announcements from "Find a Grave" are ones to take note of - Transfer of Memorials / Request to Manage AND Memorials for the Recently Deceased - Also, choosing your close relationship

There have been some recent changes announced by "Find a Grave"; a familiar website to its vast number of contributors and researchers alike who rely on it for information perhaps not found anywhere else on the Internet.  

Someone's interest may lie beyond only needing to find the location of a gravesite to the excitement of seeing for the first time an ancestor's grave marker thanks to a dedicated Find A Grave photo volunteer who honored a photo request.  By the way, please don't forget to send your "thank you note" to whomever fulfilled your photo request so they are aware of your appreciation of their time and efforts extended on your behalf.
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If you are new to using Find a Grave and/or primarily utilize it to upload memorials without spending time browsing around its links on the main page, you may not be aware of all of the information the website provides.  

Focusing here on the link for Find a Grave News. January 11, 2022 contains two impactful news announcements that are important to read and review. 

One is titled "Transferring Memorials"that includes a link to the "Help Page" taking you to the "Request to Manage" page. 

This page on Find a Grave offers a discussion of the details of this topic with specific links for the contents.  

Among the information is a paragraph providing the Find a Grave email address of support@findagrave.com which is good to be aware of if further help is required.
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The other January 11, 2022 announcement concerns "Memorials for the Recently Deceased". 

The changes became effective January 11, 2022 applying to Find a Grave memorials added after that date.

The sub-categories are: 

"Memorials by a Relative",
and
"Memorials Managed by Someone who is Not a Relative"
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Tying in with these changes is the ability to show your close relationship to the relative or ancestor that will display on their Find a Grave memorial. 

Sharing screen captures of my father's memorial to help illustrate the process to show your close relationship.: 

First click on the down arrow to the right of the EDIT button shown with a dark gray background and white letters.:

Next, click on "Edit Memorial" that appears as the top choice.:

Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page where you see "Are you a close relative?" 

There you will see your choices of: 

Spouse/Partner; Child; Parent; Grandchild; Grandparent; Sibling; Aunt/Uncle; Niece/Nephew; or Cousin.  

**Remember what you choose is to denote your  relationship to the deceased.**

In my example, I am the child of the deceased person for whom this Find A Grave memorial was created so I clicked on "Child" as my choice. 

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For a further in-depth look at the finer points of these changes, here is a link to a January 11, 2022 You Tube video posted by nationally known genealogist Amy Johnson Crow.:

"A MAJOR Update to FindAGrave - 2022 - What You Need to Know"- 2022 -  "Genealogy with Amy Johnson Crow" .
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W.P.A. research continues by examining the "The Ohio Guide"

Over the past year or so there have been blog posts here featuring links to the Ohio W.P.A. Cemetery Plat map collections shared on "Flickr" for various counties. 

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These types of maps can be a "gold mine" of information for those who are researching burial locations of veterans who served from the Revolutionary War up to and including 

World War I.  

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Spotlighted also have been individual Veterans Graves Registration cards.  These records are not as difficult to find.  

Most of the time county recorder's offices in Ohio have them; or they have had them placed in a county archive. 

Either way, there may be a small charge to obtain a copy of one. 

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We have learned about the Defiance County and to a lesser extent the Champaign County Ohio Writer's Project / Historical Records Survey descriptions of cemeteries which are proving to be an even more elusive type of record produced by the W.P.A.  

It is hoped that more Ohio county W.P.A. Cemetery Plat Maps come to light and be posted on the Internet free for anyone to access.
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Now we come down to examining another W.P.A. document that is actually a comprehensive publication called "The Ohio Guide" .  

The good thing is that you can "Google it" and find dozens of references to it!  

Even better you can access it via the website.: "FamilySearch", view it there, and download it to your computer or other device.

Co-incidentally, when I started this blog post in the final days of December 2021, I happened upon an article published in the Cleveland "Plain Dealer" on December 30, 2021 in the newspaper's "Travel Section" by Robert L. Smith, special to the "Plain Dealer".: 

 "Revisiting 'The Ohio Guide', the Depression era handbook highlighting top spots in the Buckeye State." 

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"The Ohio Guide" was part of the "American Guide Series" that came under the WPA Federal Writers' Project.
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The Campbell Library at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey has an extensive history on this subject posted online. 

The results of conducting a word search for the word "cemetery" in the online version of "The Ohio Guide" produced 44 "hits".  An interesting one appears on Page 125 for Otis C. Pratt who was buried at the Greenwood Cemetery in Wellington, Lorain County, Ohio.:

Photograph courtesy of  Mr. Al Leiby

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So, happy hunting for "The Ohio Guide" by the Works Progress Administration - originally published by the University Press, Oxford, New York in 1940.

Wishing everyone a healthy and happy New Year! - Sharing news of SB 59 Ohio Veterans' Heritage Protection Act now headed to the desk of the governor for his signature

Wishing everyone a safe and happy New Year - 2022!  Thanking everyone for stopping by and for your support!  

May the new year be one filled with many accomplishments benefitting Ohio's cemeteries! 

We will continue to explore almost forgotten gravesites - almost meaning not forgotten by those who care and seek to preserve and protect them.  Choosing the proper methods and applications that will sustain them for many years to come.

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This brings me to sharing an update to Ohio Senate Bill 59: 

"To amend sections 149.30 and 155.99 and to enact section 155.28 of the Revised Code to prohibit certain war relics located on public property or cemetery association property from being disposed of, and to designate this act as the Ohio Veterans' Heritage Protection Act." The effective date is March 23, 2022.  

 

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We look forward to the Ohio state legislators moving to introduce and pass further protective legislation so no cemetery in Ohio is abandoned and left without a legal owner who properly cares for and maintains it.

  Reviewing and strengthening any outdated Ohio Revised Codes so no Ohio cemetery faces becoming a victim of crimes committed against it by an unfit owner is overdue to be accomplished. 

And,

Finally, as many of us know, it is well past time for Inactive / Abandoned / Family Cemeteries to have the sorely needed legal protective measures put in place for them -- the same laws afforded to Active Cemeteries.  These are Ohio's most vulnerable cemeteries that deserve our best care and respect regardless of their age or status.

These are just some of the improvements we petition for in our prayers to happen for Ohio's cemeteries in 2022.  

We know the process begins with us!

We can motivate Ohio lawmakers to take a long serious look at those Ohio Revised Codes and understand that many simply are not strong enough to protect our state's cemeteries where our ancestors, close relatives, and friends found eternal rest and peace. Cemeteries have an important role in the communities that surround them.  

Please visit your local cemetery and advocate on its behalf for whatever it needs.  Those needs just might not be met if you do not.