I am a Historian with a Bachelor's Degree in International Affairs with minors in History & Political Science from Florida State University, an Undergraduate Diploma in Irish Studies from the National University of Ireland- Galway, and a Masters Degree in Celtic Studies from the University of Wales- Trinity Saint David.

The historian in me is obsessed with genealogy; the true story of our history cannot be told solely through the lives of the rich and powerful - it can only be told by studying the everyday lives of people who weren't making headlines. Cemeteries can tell you a lot about family and community dynamics. Many headstones name the parents and/or children of the deceased, providing maiden names of women and showing the connections between different families in the community. The proximity of a grave to other graves also provides us clues to family connections, and the size and elaboration of the stones provide us clues to their social and economic status in the community. For this reason, when I take a photo of a grave that appears to have connections to surrounding graves, I will try to also include a photograph of the entire "group" of graves to show their proximity to each other.

I have used the new "transcribe" feature that Find A Grave has created, and while it can be very helpful when uploading a large number of photos for a cemetery, I have found it also causes numerous duplicates to be produced. If you see that the transcription of one of my photos has created a duplicate memorial, please let me know and I will delete the duplicate. If you are transcribing photos, please make sure there isn't already a memorial to attach it to before you create a new one.

I am a Historian with a Bachelor's Degree in International Affairs with minors in History & Political Science from Florida State University, an Undergraduate Diploma in Irish Studies from the National University of Ireland- Galway, and a Masters Degree in Celtic Studies from the University of Wales- Trinity Saint David.

The historian in me is obsessed with genealogy; the true story of our history cannot be told solely through the lives of the rich and powerful - it can only be told by studying the everyday lives of people who weren't making headlines. Cemeteries can tell you a lot about family and community dynamics. Many headstones name the parents and/or children of the deceased, providing maiden names of women and showing the connections between different families in the community. The proximity of a grave to other graves also provides us clues to family connections, and the size and elaboration of the stones provide us clues to their social and economic status in the community. For this reason, when I take a photo of a grave that appears to have connections to surrounding graves, I will try to also include a photograph of the entire "group" of graves to show their proximity to each other.

I have used the new "transcribe" feature that Find A Grave has created, and while it can be very helpful when uploading a large number of photos for a cemetery, I have found it also causes numerous duplicates to be produced. If you see that the transcription of one of my photos has created a duplicate memorial, please let me know and I will delete the duplicate. If you are transcribing photos, please make sure there isn't already a memorial to attach it to before you create a new one.