Cemetery Disaster Planning. 28 pp.  This booklet provides immediate advice on why and how to prepare a disaster plan for your cemetery, reviewing some of the more common cemetery problems, including hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, and vandalism. It provides comprehensive and up-to-date information on recovery techniques, including FEMA funding. The booklet can be downloaded here.

Recording Historic Cemeteries: A Guide for Historical Societies and Genealogists. 12 pp. wire stitched. This booklet focuses on why and how to record historic cemeteries and graveyards. It provides essential advice for those beginning cemetery preservation projects.  ISBN 1-58317-045-6   Click here to view.

Grave Matters: The Preservation of African-American Cemeteries. 16 pages wire stitched. Explores the unique and exciting history of African-American cemeteries and how they can be easily damaged or destroyed by development or a lack of understanding. Suggests ways that this heritage can be preserved for future generations.  ISBN 1-58317-008-1   Click here to view.

Iconography of Death: Common Symbolism of Late Eighteenth through Early 20th Century Tombstones in the Southeastern United States. 60 pages perfect bound. This easy to use guide helps you recognize and interpret the most commonly used symbols found in cemeteries throughout the Southeast, giving researchers a better understanding of hidden meanings. It also offers a better appreciation of the varied and important aspects of the lives of people who have gone before us. ISBN 0-5831702. $15.00. See Ordering Chicora Publications for details.

Cadaver Dogs in Cemeteries. 2 pages. Provides a quick overview of using cadaver dogs to find historic graves. Bottom line, there is no peer reviewed evidence supporting this technique and besides, there are much better and more reliable approaches.   Click here to view.

                 Association of Gravestone Studies (AGS)               Conservation Talk Column

Chicora's Director, Dr. Michael Trinkley, hosted a column in the Association of Gravestone Studies Newsletter called Conservation Talk. These columns are available below as pdf files. All articles are copyrighted by the Association of Gravestone Studies (AGS) and are provided here through their kind permission.

Lichen & Cleaning Stones -- what are lichen, how do they damage stones, and what should we do about them?

Use of Ordinary Portland Cement -- is there really any appropriate use for Portland cement in modern cemetery repairs?

Abrasives and Pressure Washers -- is powerful always better and what kind of damage are we doing with modern equipment?

"Simple" Epoxy Repairs -- what are these "simple" repairs, are they really simple, and should they even be used in cemeteries?

Cemetery Maintenance is More Than Mowing the Grass -- what are the top 10 maintenance problems and why mowing the grass is only the first step in cemetery maintenance?

Safety -- is repairing that stone worth your life . . . or the life of a volunteer?

Vandalism -- every cemetery faces it, but this column provides some tips for dealing with the problem effectively.

Pins and Epoxy -- what pins work best and why? And how they interact with different epoxies. Why blind pinning isn't cookbook -- and requires a professional conservator.

Trees and Stones -- what to do when trees and stones come into conflict? How do we prevent ever getting into conflict in the first place?

Fences -- what are the top 5 fence problems and how do you go about solving them in your cemetery?

Rigging Safety -- What are required to rig cemetery stones and what should you consider in the process? Part 1 of 2

D/2 is Alive and Well -- contrary to rumors, D/2 is still available and this article addresses this particular cleaning product.

Sandstone Problems -- sandstone monuments may be beautiful, but they pose a lot of preservation challenges. This article talks about these concerns and how they can be treated.

Marble Problems - marble, too, faces a variety of long-term preservation issues. This article talks about problems such as sugaring, the formation of gypsum crust, and warping.

Slate Problems - while found in a variety of colonial cemeteries, there is far less published research on slate conservation than there is for other stones. This article summaries what is known about slate deterioration and repair.