The goal of the Digital Cemetery Project is to collect and preserve Johnson County, Kansas, cemetery information for historical reference by creating electronic and photographic records that will be donated to historical and cemetery preservation organizations.

This volunteer project first began in 2005 and was borne out of the need to capture and preserve historical and genealogical public information in Johnson County, and make it accessible on the web for world-wide availability. The only cemetery readings available prior to this project are those done by the Johnson County Genealogical Society in the early 1970s. Their volunteer efforts resulted in the publication of the Johnson County Cemetery Index, found in local libraries and available from the JCGS.

The focus of this project is to explore learning our Johnson County Kansas history from the stories our cemeteries have to tell, and to explore the clues it gives us to the past. This may result in secondary research in one or many aspects of the past, such as land ownership, stone carvers, community history, family history, and many more.

While one beneficial outcome of this project is publicly-accessible cemetery records on the web, there have been a few other interesting and valuable outcomes. During the course of this project, one lost burial ground has been located and documented, while the search continues for two other lost cemeteries. And the beginnings of a volunteer clean-up project is underway to help bring one pioneer cemetery back to life.

Visit the Opportunities section to find out more about the different activities that make up this project, and how you can have fun, learn something new, and help preserve the past.

Published: 02/21/2006