Videos by Wisconsin Historical Society

Another provider of good videos for Cemetery maintenance is the Wisconsin Historical Society.  Their efforts go beyond just cleaning veteran headstones: They clean all headstones and also get into repair of broken headstones, and reseating of tilted headstones.  The repair and reseating are not for the timid: Headstones are heavy and you must exercise extreme care not to loose your grip and drop them, or try to lift more than you body is able to lift.

Their YouTube channel is self-named Wisconsin Historical Society.  Clicking on that link will take you to their playlist of Local Cemetery Conservation videos.  The fellow who hosts the videos is Jonathan Appell, a recognized Monument Conservator and Educator, and appears to be a true subject matter expert.

As an aside, Jonathan Appell, in conversation, refers to a website by calling it "our website" and that is AtlasPreservation.com.  That website sells products and tools for all kinds of restoration work, and not just cemeteries.  I do not know why he used the pronoun, 'our', but it would be interesting to know his actual connection.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has many videos on several historical topics, but for cemetery Conservation they seem to have six videos and I've listed them all here.  The first video is an introduction to the various problems of headstones and footstones, and the remaining five videos offer instruction on how to effect the needed repairs.

Local Cemetery Conservation: Common Cemetery Conservation Needs

  • Start - Common Cemetery Needs
  • 1:55 - Full Headstone Restoration
  • 5:02 - Broken Marble Tablet
  • 9:05 - Marble Gravestone Issues
  • 15:20 - Broken Angel Headstone
  • 18:36 - Headstone Break At Base
  • 20:30 - Metal Monument Restoration

Local Cemetery Conservation: How to safely clean a Cemetery Monument

Local Cemetery Conservation: Re-setting Multi-Piece Monuments

Local Cemetery Conservation: Repairing Broken Tablet Stones

Local Cemetery Conservation: Historic Mortar Infill

Local Cemetery Conservation: Re-setting and edging in-ground footstones


This page was developed by Herb Klug       Updated September 3, 2022
Contact me at herbk98@gmail.com