Phoenix historian Reba Grandrud is one of those spearheading an inventory of Arizona's historic cemeteries. Volunteers working with the State Historic Preservation Office are trying to locate and identify burial sites and cemeteries that were established 50 or more years ago.
"A cemetery is one grave, three, a dozen, a hundred, two hundred, a thousand, whatever," Grandrud said. "Local people know where they are often, but to our knowledge there's never been a concerted effort even to list them."
"Those cemeteries tell the stories of Arizona's growth, from the Native Americans to the Spanish colonial period, even though there isn't much left. And they need to be recorded and documented, even if they aren't visible anymore," Grandrud said.
Historians, archaeologists, genealogists and directors of funeral and cemetery associations are all involved in the project, but more volunteers are needed. Grandrud said they want to have a comprehensive list ready by the state's centennial in 2012.
You can read more at http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/281366.
