I’ve had quite a busy weekend! Yesterday, I was at the Nashville Zoo to learn more about the African American history at the site, and today, I went to Greenwood Cemetery to take pictures for BIllionGraves.
I’ve blogged about BillionGraves several times before here on my blog:
- my first impressions of it before I could even get the app on my Android phone (2011)
- my experience the first time I was able to use it (2011)
- taking pics with my kids in tow at Nashville National Cemetery (2011)
- I used it to take a few pics during a trip to Arlington National Cemetery (2016)
- I regularly include it anytime I talk about apps for genealogy (2017)
I guess you could say I’m a fan (I promise, I am not paid to say that LOL). But, I am a fan because I do feel it fills a niche in the genealogy world. The aim is simple – geo-tag as many cemetery headstones as possible with the ultimate goal to get to a BILLION entries. And, given that all I have to do is take the pictures and other people can transcribe them — all the better!
This weekend, the BillionGraves team was in Nashville to document as many burials as possible in a specific group of cemeteries that included Mt. Olivet, Mt. Cavalry, and both Greenwood Cemeteries (African American). Given my interest in Nashville African American history, I signed up to help out at Greenwood Cemetery. Of all the photos that were on the site before this weekend, I took 80% of them anyway (800/1000). So, this was right up my alley!
Today, over the course of about 2.5 hours, I was able to take 800 photos! I wish I could have stayed longer, but I am happy with the progress. BillionGraves’ Chief Technology Officer, Brian Moncure, took about 300 photos himself! It is definitely a good thing that our photos will be among the new ones soon posted on the site. In the picture below, I took photos of about every grave you see in the picture, on this side of the entrance road. That’s a lot of photos and I hope it will be of help to others researching their family history and looking for relatives in the cemetery. In fact, while I was there, a woman came in looking for her grandmother and couldn’t find her location – an app such as this one definitely helps solve that problem!
Here is the view of my contributions today as reflected on the BillionGraves site – see all those green dots? That’s me!
I did not work in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, but due to help from an Eagle Scouts project, and other volunteers, half the cemetery was photographed just yesterday alone. I was also glad to have the opportunity to meet and speak with both Brian, and CEO, Hudson Gunn. The team has some interesting plans for the future and I am looking forward to seeing them develop! Thanks BillionGraves for organizing this event!
SOCIAL MEDIA IMAGE
Taneya, what a wonderful service that you and Billion Graves are doing for researchers! I am a BIG fan of taking headstone photos in every cemetery I visit because I know that one day someone will be looking for their loved one. In places like the Outer Banks, erosion is a big problem for cemeteries that sit exposed to the elements and it’s so very important to photograph whatever stones are there. A good example is one that I visited in 1989 that sits on Pamlico Sound and was beautiful when I was there but years of storms have pushed entire vaults into the Sound and blowing winds have covered a good portion of them with sand. Keep up the good work! http://www.ncgenweb.us/dare/cemeteries/index_salvocampground.html
Kay Lynn
Thank you Kay Lynn. You are right about preserving them while you can. It is difficult to see the loss that we incur from natural disasters and thank you for all that you do too!
Fantastic work, you are making a real difference.
Thank you Deborah!
Hi Taneya!
Thank-you again and again!
First, thanks for taking photos at Greenwood Cemetery in Nashville! Your work has resulted in thousands of precious images being preserved for posterity. Each one has been automatically tagged with a GPS location by the BillionGraves app, making them easy for family members and genealogists to find.
Next, thanks for linking to my blog post on blog.BillionGraves.com about the cemetery event in Nashville.
And most of all, thanks for being an awesome person! Your work is blessing many lives and creating lasting legacies for those who have gone before us!
Cathy Wallace and the BillionGraves Team
Thank you Cathy! As I shared with the team last weekend, I am a huge fan of BillionGraves and I love what y’all are doing! Having the GPS info for each photo makes a huge difference for those trying to find their family so thank you!