Utah State History’s Cemeteries and Burials Database Cemetery Inventory Grants Now Available

For Immediate Release

October 5, 2011

Contacts:  

Alycia Aldrich

Utah State History

(801) 533-3556

Claudia Nakano, Communications Director

Utah Department of Community and Culture

(801) 859-8443

Utah State History’s Cemeteries and Burials Database Cemetery Inventory Grants Now Available

Grant funds are now available to municipal, private, and local cemeteries to help create a computerized database and map of their cemetery and burials and for inclusion in Utah State History’s cemeteries and burials database http://history.utah.gov/research_and_collections/cemeteries/index.html.  This is one of the state's most popular online services, receiving 100,000+ hits per month. 

Utah State History has been collecting burial information since 1997 and putting it online, cemetery by cemetery, as it becomes available.  There are over 500 cemeteries online today and Utah State History is working to add the rest, as well as receiving updates from existing cemeteries.

The service has become so popular that Utah State History continues to offer matching grants to help cemeteries and other local groups digitize sexton records.  The grants are reimbursement grants, which require a 50/50 match (soft and/or hard match) and are limited to a maximum of $5,000 ($10,000 with match) per cemetery.

If your local cemetery is interested in applying for grant funds to digitize sexton records, please contact Debbie Dahl at (801) 533-3537, or email ddahl@utah.gov.

If you would like more information about the cemeteries and burials database, please contact Doug Misner at (801) 533-3544 or email dmisner@utah.gov or Lynette Lloyd at (801) 533-3553 or email lynettelloyd@utah.gov.  You can also visit State History’s website at http://history.utah.gov/research_and_collections/cemeteries/index.html.

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State History serves the citizens of Utah by helping to make history accessible, exciting, and relevant—and integral to the economy and culture of the state. State History is a division of the Utah Department of Community and Culture (www.community.utah.gov).