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# FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

> May 14, 2002

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# VA Launches Inventory of Cemetery Memorials

> WASHINGTON \-- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is beginning
> the first comprehensive inventory of an estimated 300 memorials at
> about 100 national cemeteries to coincide with National Historic
> Preservation Week, May 12-18, 2002.
>
> VA is looking for volunteers through September to gather historical
> information and detailed descriptions of the memorials. Individual
> headstones and post-1960 text tablets are excluded from the inventory
> project, which will last through the year.
>
> "We have a great number of cemetery memorials, large and small,
> beginning with those installed after the Civil War," said Under
> Secretary for Memorial Affairs Robin L. Higgins. "Cataloging the
> existing structures is our stewardship responsibility, and the
> information may also guide VA to better manage our 21^st^ century
> memorials."
>
> Historic cemetery memorials include inscribed stone blocks, bronze
> tablets affixed to boulders, sundials, sarcophagi, obelisks, columns
> and the ubiquitous soldier standing atop a granite pedestal.
> Contemporary memorials are typically a standardized 18" x 24" bronze
> plaque.
>
> Some, however, are substantial buildings, such as the Medal of Honor
> Memorial (1999) at California's Riverside National Cemetery and the
> Pennsylvania Veterans' Memorial (2001) at Indiantown Gap National
> Cemetery in Annville, Pa.
>
> The project will also offer essential information to support VA's goal
> of maintaining its cemeteries as the best in the world, an objective
> VA calls its \"national shrine commitment.\"
>
> VA is recruiting volunteers from diverse sources, including Civil War
> organizations, scout groups, veterans service organizations and VA
> employees.
>
> **- More -**

### Memorials Inventory 2/2/2

Volunteers will be given a cemetery map, survey form, instructions and
film to take photographs of each memorial, and are encouraged to conduct
some local historical research as part of the project.

> The solicitation is based on the model developed by Save Outdoor
> Sculpture (SOS!), a Washington, DC-based, non-profit organization that
> uses volunteers to survey public outdoor sculpture nationwide.
> Information gathered through the SOS! program is publicly accessible
> through an on-line database managed by the Smithsonian American Art
> Museum (SAAM), called SIRIS
> ([*http://www.siris.si.edu*](http://www.siris.si.edu/)[)]{.underline}.
> As part of its educational program, VA will make its findings
> available to SOS! and SAAM.
>
> The National Trust for Historic Preservation sponsors national
> Historic Preservation Week annually.
>
> VA manages 120 national cemeteries as well as 33 government, soldiers'
> and confederate lots in non-federal cemeteries throughout 41 states,
> the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
>
> More information about the project and how to volunteer is found at
> [www.cem.va.gov](http://www.cem.va.gov/) under "What's New."
> Interested individuals or organizations can also email
> <nca.memorials@mail.va.gov> or write to:
>
> Sara Amy Leach, Historian
>
> Department of Veterans Affairs
>
> National Cemetery Administration
>
> 810 Vermont Ave., NW (402B4)
>
> Washington, DC 20420
>
> \# \# \#