Public Programs
Public programs – tours, presentations, field programs, and dedications – serve many purposes. All engage community members in a shared commitment to preserving sacred and historic sites. Workshops and hands-on field programs have the added benefit of bringing volunteers to a site where BGPG’s professional training and guidance can address long term goals.
Public programs encourage private funding and donations by creating awareness in the general public of the work involved. Public programs also act as opportunities for positive press coverage to inform a wider audience about the historical significance of a site, the importance of preserving it, and the need for additional funding.
A cemetery tour, hands-on workshop, and collaborative project with an Eagle Scout candidate are provided below to illustrate the variety of meaningful public programs that can be developed around a community's historic cemetery or burying ground.
Quogue Cemetery
Quogue, NY
Quogue Cemetery Tour,
June 23, 2018
Old Cutchogue Burying Ground
Cutchogue, NY
Hands-on Workshop,
May 4 & 5, 2018
Old Cutchogue Burying Ground
Eagle Scout Project, 2018
Cutchogue, NY
Eagle Scout candidate Joseph DePinto (below right) discovered a headstone buried in the ground (below left) while digging and resetting the granite piers that supported a wooden picket fence installed in the 19th century. The grave marker was reset on the basis of familial ties with a nearby stone that was also straightened, cleaned and reset (center). The archaeological find was important because it documents the lives of two African-American girls (Miriam aged 8 and Parthenia aged 4) whose existence was previously unknown.
