The Association of American Cemetery Superintendents or AACS was an American organization formed in 1887 to share interests and to improve the fields of cemetery design, groundskeeping, and horticulture. It is now called the International Cemetery, Cremation & Funeral Association (ICCF).
The first movement to create an association for cemetery superintendents was started in 1886 by eighteen individuals, [1] and the organization first met in October 1887 in Cincinnati, Ohio under the leadership of Charles Nichols. The foremost purpose of the AACS was educational, and the published works from each annual meeting became much sought-after by librarians and other institutions of learning. These published works were written by cemetery superintendents, illustrating points of importance they would like share with their fellow cemetery superintendents. The Association was devoted to the betterment of cemeteries and their maintenance.
The Association was successful in improving the state of cemeteries across the United States, and in encouraging cemetery superintendents to keep their graveyards well-maintained. One example of the Association’s effect on society would be its improvement of cemeteries in rural America. One of the AACS’s concerns was that of the upkeep of rural cemeteries, and how to improve and gather interest in them. In an instance mentioned in the 20th Annual Convention Proceedings, a member of the AACS described how he motivated a group of cemetery superintendents. This group of cemetery superintendents was composed entirely of women, and they were in charge of an extremely old country church's cemetery. [2] With the encouragement to improve their graveyard, the committee was motivated and driven to better their cemetery’s appearance and upkeep, resulting in a much more pleasant cemetery. This instance illustrates how the AACS was able to affect whole communities of cemetery superintendents, for this is but one example of the many concerns the AACS had for American cemeteries.
One of the three oldest societies devoted to conserving landscape and cemetery gardening, [3] and rural art in the United States, the Association of American Cemetery Superintendents still exists today.
The Association created guidelines for plotting the grounds, headstone size, and material for vaults/monuments. In 1888, Jacob Weidenmann who was a cemetery engineer, published an essay called "Modern Cemeteries: An Essay on the Improvement and Proper Management of Rural Cemeteries". [4] This essay diagrammed different land plotting techniques, and how to landscape different areas to improve the look of unused plots. In 1890, the AACS created guidelines for headstone size, standardized the height of grave mounds to 4 inches, and limited the amount of monuments on family plots to 1. The AACS also limited the number of vaults in a cemetery and gave recommendations to the best material to build monuments and vaults out of. [5] These were some of the Associations most monumental improvements to cemeteries because it created guidelines to standardized the look of cemeteries while still having each cemetery be unique to what the superintendent envisioned.
In the first 20 years of the association, they made great changes to all the cemeteries in their charge. They renovated and cared for the cemeteries by working on the grasses, gravestones, and other aspects of the cemeteries. One group of cemeteries that was unavailable to be helped by the association was the church yards. The church yards don't have superintendents or anyone in charge of them, which is why it was hard for the association to help them. At the Chicago convention, John Thorp had an idea to try and fix the church yards. He wanted to use the local newspaper as a way to spark concern in the community. This didn't work because the local newspapers didn't think cemeteries were worthy news. [6] Another way that the association worked to help church yards was for the church to appoint a committee of all women and use the motto "Keep Clean". This was to make it hard for people to object to the upkeep of the church yards since it would not be considered an issue for men. The Association wanted to just get people interested in the well being of cemeteries so that the public would have a reason to keep up the cemeteries. [7]
During the first century of operation the Association of American Cemetery superintendents underwent multiple name changes until landing on the International Cemetery, and Funeral Association in 1996. The word cremation was added in 2007 to represent a fuller vision of the goal of the association. The association is made of 9,100 cemeteries, crematoriums, memorials, and other services across the world. It holds conventions and meetings to update people on the laws and regulations along with educational meetings. [8]
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word cemetery implies that the land is specifically designated as a burial ground and originally applied to the Roman catacombs. The term graveyard is often used interchangeably with cemetery, but a graveyard primarily refers to a burial ground within a churchyard.
Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objects in it, and covering it over. A funeral is a ceremony that accompanies the final disposition. Humans have been burying their dead since shortly after the origin of the species. Burial is often seen as indicating respect for the dead. It has been used to prevent the odor of decay, to give family members closure and prevent them from witnessing the decomposition of their loved ones, and in many cultures it has been seen as a necessary step for the deceased to enter the afterlife or to give back to the cycle of life.
A grave is a location where a dead body is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as graveyards or cemeteries.
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Graceland Cemetery is a large historic garden cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at the intersection of Clark Street and Irving Park Road. Among the cemetery's 121 acres (49 ha) are the burial sites of several well-known Chicagoans.
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An unmarked grave is one that lacks a marker, headstone, or nameplate indicating that a body is buried there. However, in cultures that mark burial sites, the phrase unmarked grave has taken on a metaphorical meaning.
Witton Cemetery, which opened in Witton in 1863 as Birmingham City Cemetery, is the largest cemetery in Birmingham, England. Covering an area of 103 acres (0.42 km2), it once had three chapels; however, two of these were demolished in 1980. The cemetery would perform up to 20 burials a day; however, it was declared "full to capacity" in December 2013, allowing burials only in existing family plots, or of babies or cremated remains. Extra capacity was therefore provided at the nearby New Hall Cemetery. The cemetery office was opened in 1999.
St Mary's Church, Handsworth, also known as Handsworth Old Church, is a Grade II* listed Anglican church in Handsworth, Birmingham, England. Its ten-acre (4 hectare) grounds are contiguous with Handsworth Park. It lies just off the Birmingham Outer Circle, and south of a cutting housing the site of the former Handsworth Wood railway station. It is noteworthy as the resting place of famous progenitors of the industrial age, and has been described as "the cathedral of the Industrial Revolution".
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Culpeper National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the town of Culpeper, in Culpeper County, Virginia. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses 29.6 acres (120,000 m2) of land, and as 2021, had over 14,000 interments.
Camp Nelson National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in southern Jessamine County, Kentucky. It was originally a graveyard associated with the U.S. Army's Camp Nelson, which was active during the U.S. Civil War and its aftermath. The camp was named for Major General William "Bull" Nelson, commander of the Civil War Army of Kentucky, who was murdered by a fellow officer in 1862.
Icelandic funerals are ceremonies that are largely shaped by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland, the largest Christian organisation in Iceland. However, customs may vary depending on religious group.
The death care industry in the United States includes companies and organizations that provide services related to death: funerals, cremation or burial, and memorials. This includes for example funeral homes, coffins, crematoria, cemeteries, and headstones. The death care industry within the U.S. consists mainly of small businesses, although there has been considerable consolidation over time.
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The Grove Church Cemetery is a nonsectarian cemetery, located on the western slope of the Hudson Palisades, along with several other cemeteries in a string of green open space, in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. The Grove Church, who owns the cemetery, is one of the oldest religious bodies in the area, and it has had an operating cemetery since 1847. Throughout its history, prominent families have been buried there, as well as American Civil war veterans. There have also been reports of vandalism and misuse of the property since the 19th century, and in 2007 some of the cemetery grounds were occupied by the homeless.
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