A Beautiful Resting Place: A look at New England cemeteries and gravestones

Join us at the Stockbridge Library for this fascinating talk.

Utilizing decades of experience and knowledge, Bill Remsen and Ian Stewart, founding principal partners of Preservation Inc. will discuss the history of cemeteries and burying grounds in New England. In November of 2021, they were engaged by the Town of Stockbridge to analyze the stones in both the “Old Section” and the “Curtisville” sections of the Town of Stockbridge Cemetery. They will lay out the various types of monuments found within the “Old Section” as well as the materials from which the monuments were made, and the ways in which the stones decay. There will be a discussion of gravestone art and its evolution over the last several centuries. Gravestone conservation and the work that has already begun in the Town Cemetery will also be topics of discussion. There will be a Q&A session at the end of the talk.
Ian K. M. Stewart, Partner, Preservation Inc. His work includes the restoration of historic wood meeting houses, barns, houses and mills across the United States, the documentation and assessment of cultural heritage sites including burying grounds and cemeteries, as well as the creation of long-term preservation planning documents for heritage sites. He holds a Master of Arts in Preservation Studies degree, with a focus on Architectural History, from Boston University’s School of American and New
England Studies. He has worked at notable museums, including Historic Huguenot Street, whereas the Head of Physical Maintenance/Preservation he was responsible for the care of 49 historic structures and 5 cemeteries, including one Enslaved African Burying Ground, dating from the 17th to the 19th century. He has consulted with the Historic Burying Ground Initiative, a branch of the Boston Department of Parks since 2012, primarily dealing with the organization and resetting of the city’s fragmentary gravestone collection. His work allowed 100 stones to be reset into their respective burying grounds. He has consulted with police agencies on policies and the return of stolen gravestones. Of Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) heritage, he has worked with multiple tribal groups within the United States and Canada.
William C. S. Remsen, Partner, Preservation Inc. A registered architect and a professional member of the American Institute of Conservation (AIC), he has over 35 years experience with all aspects of cultural heritage preservation projects in the U.S. and internationally. After receiving a BA in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design,
and a post-graduate Certificate in Architecture Conservation from the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) in Rome, Italy, he has worked with numerous nonprofit cultural heritage institutions, churches, museums, and local, national and international governmental agencies conserving, interpreting, and presenting historic buildings and heritage sites. He spent many years living in traditional villages in third-world countries working as the Surveyor and Architect on archaeological excavations and ethnographic surveys. He has worked on the assessment and conservation of numerous historic cemeteries in the US and on historic Islamic mausoleums overseas. He combines hands-on practical conservation work with academic research, conservation training, and
teaching.

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