The cemeteries listed here are certainly not the only ones doing innovative things with programming and interpretation. They are just a couple examples of the ways in which cemeteries can function as community touchstones, either through the Congressional Cemetery’s dog walking program, or the Qing Ming festival at the Salem Pioneer Cemetery.

The take home point for cemetery interpretation is be bold, be creative, and be willing to make a mistake. If your community doesn’t like the movie showing, that is okay! It gets people talking about the cemetery and ways which programming might work for that particular place. In the words of Lauren Maloy, the Program Director at the Congressional Cemetery:  “get comfortable with controversy! You’ll never be able to change everyone’s mind, and there will always be those who strongly oppose hosting anything other than funerals in a cemetery.”