HISTORICAL PRESERVATION
The Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission (RIHPHC) has launched a partnership with the Rhode Island Advisory Commission on Historical Cemeteries (RIACHC) to present RI Historical Cemeteries Awareness and Preservation Weeks in April – May 2022.
Each spring, RIACHC facilitates dozens of cemetery clean-ups, gravestone conservation demonstrations, and tours across the state. RIHPHC will work closely with RIACHC to organize additional free programs that raise awareness about Rhode Island’s historic cemeteries and promote their preservation.
RI Historical Cemeteries Awareness and Preservation Weeks will run in place of the 2022 RI Historic Preservation Conference. With a new partnership and free outdoor programs statewide, we are excited about this new collaboration!
Cemeteries are among Rhode Island’s most unique and often overlooked cultural resources. Nearly 3000 sites have been identified in our small state, including Indigenous Peoples’ burial places, family plots on rural farmsteads, church graveyards, picturesque garden cemeteries, cemeteries established by religious communities, veterans’ resting places, and more. Historic cemeteries tell the stories of individuals and families, landscape design, grave marker artistry and technology, religious beliefs, traditional cultural practices, and community development.