Pokemon NO! Gamers Asked to Steer Clear of Cemeteries

 

The recent release of Pokemon Go has brought an increase of people out walking, heads down, iphones on, in search of Pokemon.  The newest craze has fans of all ages out and about trying to “catch them all!”  Here’s the thing.  There are some places you should stay clear of: dark alleys, private property and, need we say it … Cemeteries!

Today my husband was photographing for BillionGraves at a cemetery in Colorado. Now, during our years volunteering with BillionGraves, we have been asked a lot of things, but never “Are you here to catch Pokemon?”  Excuse me?  Yes!  Believe it or not, there has been an influx of people wandering cemeteries looking for those little creatures.

Let this be a PSA, if you will.  Stay clear of the cemeteries.  This is hallowed ground to many people and the visitors there are paying their respects to loved ones they have lost.  There is a time and place for everything, and playing Pokemon at the local cemetery just isn’t right.  

My son, who is a fan of Pokemon, informed me that Pokemon Go randomly generates locations of the Pokemon.  Keep in mind these locations change day by day, so any creatures you missed out on at the cemetery will be available elsewhere on another day.  Be patient.  If you must play, seek out a local park or other public venue.  Avoid private property and dark secluded places.  And, if anything, out of sheer respect, don’t play in the cemetery.

The cemetery security was pleased to learn that my husband was not out capturing Pokemon, but instead capturing images of headstones.  BillionGraves is a volunteer worldwide initiative with the purpose of preserving the information found on gravestones.  Each photograph is tagged with a GPS coordinate so that family looking to find an ancestor’s resting place will be lead to the exact location of the headstone.

To learn more about BillionGraves, visit BillionGraves.com.  To learn more about Pokemon Go, visit Pokemon.com.

Reflections of a GraveFinder -- They Were The Dash.

 

It is no secret that I love volunteering for BillionGraves.  I love that with so little effort and just a donation of my time, I can provide a resource for thousands of people searching for a record for their ancestor or loved one.  Pure and simple.  It’s me, my iPhone and a cemetery.   Step.  Point.  Click.  Move to the next headstone.  Step.  Point. Click.  And yet, it is not as simple as that.  There is the dash.

What do I mean by “the dash?”  I am sure by now you have heard it said that we all have two dates and a dash, and we better make that dash count.  What about those dashes I pass moment by moment as I individually photograph each grave?  Those dashes meant something to a lot of people.  What happened in those dashes affected the lives of others and should be remembered.

Over the past years I have photographed over 150 thousand headstones.  That is a lot of memorials.  Do I stop and think of each person as I move along?  Truthfully, no.  I sometimes zone out because the repetition of the process over a two to five hour timeframe can lead to one’s mind wandering.  But I do try to focus.  To me, it’s a matter of respect.

Each headstone has a name.  Sometimes, as I pass by, I state the name aloud and say hello.  I notice the religious symbol on the stone.  I read the epitaph. Sometimes there is a spouse buried there, as well.  Two feet to the left may be an infant child.  My heart melts and I get emotional as though suddenly this is my family and I am sharing in the loss.

There are the feelings of pride, too.  I have photographed in Arlington, Quantico and Gettysburg.  I have passed soldiers of all ranks and station.  Purple Heart recipients.  Some who died in war and others who lived very long lives.  In my heart, I thank them all for their service.  I say a silent prayer.

I see mementoes on or beside the headstones.  A case of beer and a pack of cigarettes.  Teddy bears.  Matchbox cars.  A rock.  A dime.  Sometimes even a black box, holding who knows what?  I don’t look inside.  It’s sacred.  All memories relating to the dash.

And sometimes I meet the families.  Typically, when I photograph a cemetery and mourners come to pay their respects, I will stop photographing.  I move away or go somewhere else in the cemetery so as to give the visitors privacy.  Sometimes I am so focused I don’t see the family members walk towards me, curious as to what I am doing here.  Did I lose a loved one, as well?  Did I know their father?  Mother?  Friend?  No.  I am here for record preservation purposes only.  After a brief explanation of why I am in the cemetery, the real interaction begins.  The family members want to share their experiences about their loved ones.  They want the stories told.  I’m here to preserve the dates.  They are here to remember the dash.

What I do is easy.  It’s just me, the iPhone and a cemetery.  Step. Point. Click.  Move to the next headstone.  But as volunteers for any genealogical project, may we pause to remember for whom we are doing this work?  What we do goes beyond record preservation.  May our work reflect our respect for the name engraved on the stone.  They are more than just a name and two dates.  They were the dash.

Do QR Codes Have A Place In Cemeteries?

In the late 1970s, there was a cemetery my school bus passed every day.  One of the headstones that faced the street displayed a photograph of the child buried there.  At the time, I found the image unsettling and would avoid looking at the grave when we passed by.  I’m not sure why it bothered me.  I had spent many hours in cemeteries doing research with my genealogist parents, but as a 12 year old, it was beyond my understanding of why a picture would be put on a headstone. 

Today, I am a volunteer with an online records preservation site called BillionGraves.  As a volunteer, I visit cemeteries throughout the world and photograph headstones which later are transcribed and made available with GPS coordinates for individuals searching for their ancestors.  Every once in a while I come across a headstone that displays a picture of the deceased.  It no longer unsettles me as it did when I was a youth.  It is a wonderful reminder that the individual buried there is more than a name and two dates etched in stone.  But, just as I have adjusted to seeing the faces of the deceased on headstones, a new technology has emerged providing information beyond the imagery and inscription. And while we live in the age of ever advancing technology, not everyone is comfortable with this new addition to the headstones -- the QR code. 

If you are not familiar with the term QR code, it is a digital square box that can be scanned to obtain information regarding the item it is attached to.  So why place a QR code on a headstone?  Who is doing the scanning and how? 

QR Codes on Headstones

QR codes on headstones began to make their appearance within the last decade.  Who started the process is debatable.  There are a variety companies in the United States that claim they were the first, however, the earliest reference I was able to come across is Quiring Monuments, a Seattle based company who placed their codes on headstones in 2011. The idea was to provide additional information regarding the deceased, such as an obituary, family stories, and any other documentation of historical importance.  A virtual records repository, if you will.  Anyone researching the individual would simply scan the QR code with a smart phone, and the photographs and documents pertaining to that person would be made available through a site the family or cemetery administration managed.  

Anyone who has researched family history will tell you that courthouses burn, documents fade with time, and often information is misplaced, mislabeled or lost.  A stone with an etched QR code would provide an opportunity to have access to those documents even after the original records can no longer be found.  For genealogical purposes this seems like a wonderful idea if you know who the individual is, where they are buried, and know the QR code is there.  

Breaking Away From Tradition

Cemeteries have long been a place where people go to pay their respects to a loved one.  Genealogists visit cemeteries to locate ancestors and retrieve vital information etched on the stone.  It’s all about the family and preserving the memory of those who have gone before.  The expectation is that the cemetery be peaceful, if not sacred.  Have we lost sight of what the intent of those visits are, or have we advanced the opportunity to keep the memory of our ancestors alive and in greater detail?

There was a time when placing an image on a gravestone was considered controversial.  Jewish law and Christianity prohibit idol worship, and so many people rejected the idea of adding a photograph to their loved one’s grave fearing that the prayers said at the grave site might be misconstrued and seen as praying to the deceased. 

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”

                                                                                    Exodus 20:3-4

But while some people rejected the idea of adding images citing religious beliefs, others begged the question, “Are we visiting the cemetery to visit our dead or to pray to God?”  If the intent is to visit and keep the memory of the loved one alive, then why not a photograph?  And if not a photograph, why not a QR code?

I recently asked a group of friends what they thought of QR codes on cemetery headstones.  While some people felt it would be a wonderful way to learn about people buried in a cemetery, others felt that bringing technology into the cemetery would be "tacky."  Most agreed that tying information regarding the individual and the headstone to some sort of database would be sufficient.  But we have that already, don’t we?  Sites such as BillionGraves and FindAGrave do just that.  They have taken the image of the headstone and attached with it further documentation regarding the deceased. 

So what to do with the QR codes?  One individual suggested that QR codes be allowed if the family members request one.  When sites such as BillionGraves or FindAGrave digitize the headstone, the QR code could be attached, providing the viewer with additional information on their ancestor.

And what about photographs displayed on headstones?  While some people felt it was a nice idea, many others did not, pointing out that too often the images etched into the stone do not turn out well, and that the digital photographs inserted in the stones fade and are destroyed by the elements of nature.

 Let me hear from you! 

What are your thoughts regarding cemetery headstones?  Should headstones only display names and dates, or should we allow technology to take a place within the graveyard?