June 1st – June 5th 2015
Throughout the Hawaiian Islands, historic cemeteries are falling into disrepair. Worn down by the passage of time, weather, vandals, and a persistent lack of funding and support, many of these once vibrant community spaces are now overgrown and neglected. For those cemeteries which are maintained, their grass may be mowed, or their headstones swept of debris, but more serious issues such as sunken graves, fallen headstones and crumbling mortar remain unaddressed. Complicating the matter is the myriad of complex jurisdictional issues regarding who owns and has responsibility for these burial sites.
This project seeks to address these issues through a free week-long community workshop on Historic Cemetery Preservation and Community Capacity Building that will be held from June 1-5, 2015 on the University of Hawai‘i’s Manoa campus. Up to 30 students and members of the public will learn hands-on techniques on topics such as headstone documentation, cleaning stone grave-markers, and lifting and hoisting stone markers. Guest speakers will provide a broad cultural context and will include representatives from community-based cemetery preservation initiatives in Kalaupapa and Mo‘ili’ili. The final day of the workshop concludes with actual fieldwork at Ma‘ema‘e Chapel Cemetery, a small historic cemetery in Honolulu. Finally, a free public presentation on Saturday, June 6, will enable at least 60 more people to learn about these community efforts to address the needs of historic cemeteries.
The workshop will be led by Dr. William Chapman, Director of the Historic Preservation Certificate Program of the University of Hawai‘i’s American Studies Department. Community partners will include entities such as the State Historic Preservation Division, Kalaupapa National Historic Park, Mo‘ili‘ili Cemetery Beautification project, Historic Hawai‘i Foundation and Kaumakapili Church.
For additional information, email Professor Chapman: wchapman@hawaii.edu