Rhode Island Cemetery Weeks

Published on Wednesday, March 08, 2023

(Providence, R.I.) – Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Awareness and Preservation Weeks (Rhode Island Cemetery Weeks) will feature dozens of free programs in April and May. The public is invited to participate in tours, clean-ups, gravestone conservation demonstrations, talks, and other programs at and about historic cemeteries throughout the state. Rhode Island Cemetery Weeks is organized by the Rhode Island Advisory Commission on Historical Cemeteries (RIACHC) and Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission (RIHPHC) in collaboration with many individual and organizational partners.

Rhode Island Cemetery Weeks will include walking tours of historically significant cemeteries like North Kingstown’s Elm Grove Cemetery and Moshassuck Cemetery in Central Falls. Another tour will visit God’s Little Acre in Newport, America’s oldest documented and extant burying ground for people of African heritage. There will be many opportunities to visit small burying grounds like the Gardiner-Hopkins Lot at Norman Bird Sanctuary in Middletown and the Governors’ Burial Ground in Newport, as well as other lesser known but just as significant sites throughout the state.

For those interested in hands-on projects, there will be dozens of clean-up events throughout the state, including Earth Day activities in Providence and Warren. Since 2015 the R.I. Advisory Commission on Historical Cemeteries has promoted volunteer projects that clean up, maintain, and improve historic cemeteries. They welcome volunteers who can help with raking, trash pick-up, light brush cutting, weed trimming, and other activities. At some sites, gloves, bags, and some tools are provided. Volunteers should bring their own tools if available.

Several Cemetery Weeks events will feature demonstrations led by experts. These include stone conservation workshops, gravestone cleanings, and a ground-penetrating radar demonstration. Other programs will offer unexpected ways to explore historic cemeteries, including data collecting at Locust Grove Cemetery in Providence, a drone photography demonstration at Elder Ballou Meeting House Cemetery in Cumberland, a music themed tour at Fort Adams in Newport, a scavenger hunt at Brayton Cemetery in Warwick, as well as several encounters with cemetery geology and wildlife. Archaeologists and historians will offer presentations on Rhode Island cemeteries and the laws that govern them.

RIHPHC Executive Director Jeffrey Emidy said, “Rhode Island’s nearly three thousand cemeteries are among our most unique and often overlooked cultural resources. Historic cemeteries tell the stories of individuals and families, landscape design, artistry and technology, religious beliefs, traditional cultural practices, and community development.”

RIACHC Chair Pegee Malcolm added, “The Rhode Island Advisory Commission on Historical Cemeteries is very happy to be working with the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission this year on Rhode Island Historical Cemeteries Awareness and Preservation Weeks. We strive to protect all the historical cemeteries in Rhode Island. This year we will be leading clean-ups, tours, and demonstrations to give the public a chance to see the beauty, history, and nature found in historic cemeteries.”

Visit www.preservation.ri.gov/ricw for more information and a calendar of events. Listings will be updated throughout the spring. The online listings will have information about times, locations, tour size limits, registration (if required), and other key details.

EVENT DIGEST

(full descriptions at www.preservation.ri.gov/ricw-calendar and more events to come)

APRIL

• 4/1 Tour | Trinity Church Graveyard, Newport
• 4/4 Tour | Norman Bird Sanctuary, Middletown
• 4/5 Talk | Portsmouth Free Library, Portsmouth
• 4/5  Moon hike | North Burial Ground, Providence
• 4/8 Tour | Trinity Church Graveyard, Newport
• 4/8 Clean-up/data collection | Locust Grove Cemetery, Providence
• 4/8 Tour/clean-up | Lippitt-Spywood Lot, Warwick
• 4/15 Drone photo workshop | Elder Ballou Meeting House Cemetery, Cumberland
• 4/15 Tour | God’s Little Acre, Newport
• 4/15 Tour | Trinity Church Graveyard, Newport
• 4/15 Tour | Lawton Valley Cemeteries, Portsmouth
• 4/16 Walk | North Burial Ground, Providence
• 4/19 Talk | online
• 4/20 Tour | Norman Bird Sanctuary, Middletown
• 4/22 Tour | Trinity Church Graveyard, Newport
• 4/22 Earth Day | North Burial Ground, Providence
• 4/22 Tour | North Burial Ground, Providence
• 4/22 Clean-up | North Burial Ground and Kickemuit Cemetery, Warren
• 4/23 Hike/Clean-up | Fisherville Brook Wildlife Reserve, Exeter
• 4/23 Tour | River Bend Cemetery, Westerly
• 4/29 Tour | God’s Little Acre, Newport
• 4/29 Tour | Trinity Church Graveyard, Newport
• 4/29 (or 5/6) Tour | Elm Grove Cemetery
• 4/29 Talk/Tour/demonstration | North Smithfield-Woonsocket
• 4/29 Tour | Oak Grove Cemetery, Pawtucket
• 4/29 Clean-up | Brayton Cemetery, Warwick

MAY

• 5/5 or 6 Walk | St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Providence
• 5/6 Tours | Fort Adams Cemetery, Newport
• 5/6 Conservation workshop/Clean-up | Cumberland
• 5/6 Tour | Trinity Church Graveyard, Newport
• 5/7 Tour | Moshassuck Cemetery, Central Falls
• 5/7 Tour | George Sears Greene Cemetery, Warwick
• 5/10 Clean-up/data collection | Locust Grove Cemetery, Providence
• 5/12 Clean-up/data collection | North Burial Ground, Providence
• 5/13 Clean-up | Cumberland
• 5/13 Tour | Coddington Burial Ground, Newport
• 5/13 Tour | Trinity Church Graveyard, Newport
• 5/13 Tour | North Burial Ground, Providence
• 5/13 Tour | Burr’s Hill Park, Warren
• 5/17 Discussion | North Burial Ground, Providence
• 5/20 Clean-up | Cumberland
• 5/20 Tour | Trinity Church Graveyard, Newport
• 5/20 Tour | Casey Farm, North Kingstown
• 5/20 Tour | North Burial Ground, Providence
• 5/20 scavenger hunt | Brayton Cemetery, Warwick
• 5/25 Tour | Roger Williams National Memorial, Providence
• 5/27 Clean-up | Cumberland
• 5/27 Tour | Trinity Church Graveyard, Newport
• 5/27 Tour | Casey Farm, North Kingstown

ONGOING (APRIL - MAY)

• Online video about North Burial Ground + Swan Point Cemetery, Providence
• Walking challenge | North Burial Ground, Providence

IN PLANNING

• Tour | Elder Ballou Meeting House Cemetery, Cumberland
• Talk | East Greenwich
• Clean-up/demonstration/Tour | East Providence
• Clean-up | North Smithfield
• Tour | St. John’s Cemetery, Providence
• TBD | Glocester, Richmond, Scituate, Smithfield, Tiverton