Some Roads Lead to the Cemetery
Relocating to coastal Carolina was a great move. It has been all good. Alligators living about 10 feet outside of my back door? No problem. Heck I’ve even figured out all the best tricks to survive the difficult humidity of July and August. The only set back has been my unfortunate discovery of a serious fire ant allergy. Serious enough that I not only carry two Epi-pens with me at all times, but am now six months into a five year cluster immunotheraphy treatment plan.
What does this have to do with a cemetery in Wilmington? Well, hopefully nothing directly. But I have been passing by the Greenlawn Memorial Park cemetery at the corner of Shipyard and 17th street on every visit to the allergist. As I sit at the red-light I watch as people pay their respects, or perform their grave-site maintenance. My mind wanders. Just who was buried there? The genealogist in me needs to know.
Well there is an App for that!
Cluster immunotheraphy is a method of treatment for life-threatening allergies that accelerates the desensitization process. Administered in groups of two to four, there are thirty minute waiting periods between each shot. So, while I waited between rounds in the allergists office, I flipped out my I-phone and tapped into the Find-A-Grave mobile app searching for Greenlawn Memorial Park cemetery.
14,000 interments were recorded. Thrilling. What hit me though was the fact that only 34% of the memorials included a photograph. As a genealogist who tries to adhere to the Genealogical Proof Standard at all times I realized what this meant. Most genealogists won’t be able to cite these memorials as a source. We structure our citations to the headstones. When we are not able to personally stand in front of the headstone, we utilize Find-A-Grave and cite the photograph of the the headstone. Without a photograph all the work the original contributors have gone to will be under appreciated.
My Little Project
So now on days that I have to visit the allergist I leave home a little earlier. I give myself about thirty minutes to an hour. Instead of sitting at the red-light watching the visitors in the cemetery I pull in. I take pictures of a particular section on my phone. When I wait between shots at the doctor’s office I now upload the photos to their corresponding memorial. Hopefully I’ll be a little quicker than the five year plan I’m on with the immunotheraphy. You can follow my progress here.
And yes, I always wear good shoes that protect me from any encounters from fire ants!
Contact Information
Greenlawn Memorial Park Cemetery
1311 Shipyard Boulevard
Wilmington, NC 28412
Phone: 910-799-1686
Cemetery Office is open 8:30 am – 5:00 pm M-F and 9:00 am – 2:00 pm Saturday
