I have been volunteering with St. Luke’s Historic Church and Museum since summer 2017. During Cemetery Preservation Workshops, as volunteers, we are able to learn proper preservation and conservation techniques for maintaining gravestones. We even occasionally are able to have experts like Ta Mara Conde come to Smithfield to teach about conservation beyond just cleaning the surfaces. It is important to not clean the gravestones too often or with too harsh of chemicals as every cleaning wears the stone down.
Volunteering at St. Luke’s is a way for me to connect to U.S. and Virginia history, while learning about historic preservation and conservation. I am able to revisit the stones I have previously cleaned each time I return to Smithfield.
