Whispers from the Dust Cemetery Grant Program

While working to preserve my own family history, I realized how rare records were kept of our loved ones burials.  How markers became faded, obituaries lost, the footprint we leave on this world vanished.  My great great Grandfathers records were completely missing, and hours on the phone with the Catholic Church finally resulted in answers. There was no exact location outside of an old photograph my grandma kept of her, with her father, and brother standing by his copper marker. This helped the transcriptionist  locate more information, the photo showed an older section that of the Cemetery that had been renamed.  This motivated me to become more involved in preserving these precious monuments of our ancestors.  This is why the Whispers from the Dust program is so important.  I really enjoy being a volunteer for "Whispers" and enjoy bringing the past online for all.

ICAPGen

The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists

The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen) has
recently announced a new cemetery grant program called “Whispers from the Dust", to help
fund cemeteries who want to preserve and modernize their databases and maps, and make
them freely available online.

Imagine making a “virtual” visit to a cemetery with an online map that identifies each grave
individually. Imagine clicking on that grave and viewing birth, death, spouse, marriage, and
military information along with a headstone photo. Now, imagine zooming out and identifying
everyone buried in adjacent graves. Integrated mapping and data will help solve genealogical
puzzles that could not be solved with mere headstone transcriptions. Off-site backup of digital
records safeguard them for future generations. Online maps and databases are updated with
one click of a sexton’s mouse.

This exciting and innovative technology is all part of the “Whispers from the Dust” cemetery
grant program.

For more information please visit www.icapgen.org

Cordially,

Dayna Jacobs
Chair, “Whispers from the Dust”
ICAPGen

daynajacobs@gmail.com