Connecting Cemetery Professionals. Advancing Stewardship.
The ICCFA Historic and Garden Cemeteries Committee is a professional network for cemetery leaders, staff, preservationists, horticulturists, historians, educators, consultants, and allied professionals working to sustain and strengthen historic and garden cemeteries.
Historic and garden cemeteries are more than places of burial. They are active cultural landscapes that preserve community memory, support education and research, protect historic architecture and horticulture, and provide meaningful public spaces for reflection and engagement. The Committee brings together colleagues facing many of the same opportunities and challenges and creates a place to exchange practical knowledge, build professional relationships, and learn from one another.
Graceland Cemetery in Chicago / Photo credit: Scott Shigley
Mission Statement
The mission of the ICCFA Historic and Garden Cemeteries Committee is to build a collaborative community of cemetery and allied professionals, promote the exchange of knowledge, and advance best practices for the long-term stewardship of these vital cultural landscapes.
Committee Chair
Anthony “A.J.” Orlikoff
Director of Programming, Historic Congressional Cemetery
Committee Members
- Jensen Allen – Secretary
Graceland Cemetery | Chicago, IL - Joshua Gevertz
Cypress Lawn | Colma, CA - Annalisa Heppner
North Burial Ground | Providence, RI
- Sean O’Regan, CCE
Woodland Cemetery | Dayton, OH - Sherry Smith
Bellefontaine Cemetery & Arboretum | St. Louis, MO - Matthew Stephens
Mount Auburn Cemetery | Cambridge, MA
What we do
The Historic & Garden Cemeteries Committee brings together professionals from historic, garden, rural, municipal, nonprofit, and other culturally significant cemeteries to connect, collaborate, and share ideas. Through peer discussion, webinars, conference programming, case studies, shared resources, and professional connections, the Committee helps practitioners learn from colleagues facing similar opportunities and challenges.
The committee works to:
- Share best practices, resources, case studies, and lessons learned.
- Foster collaboration across cemetery operations, preservation, horticulture, interpretation, development, technology, data, and community engagement.
- Explore emerging trends, challenges, and innovative approaches affecting historic and garden cemeteries.
- Develop educational programs, conference sessions, webinars, and peer-learning opportunities.
- Connect professionals with colleagues facing similar issues and create opportunities to share their own work.
- Promote responsible stewardship that balances preservation, active cemetery operations, financial sustainability, and public engagement.
- Raise the visibility of historic and garden cemeteries within ICCFA and the wider deathcare profession.
Cherry Blossoms at Historic Congressional Cemetery / Image credit: Kitty Linton
Issues We’re Exploring
The committee is designed around the real issues historic and garden cemetery professionals are navigating every day, including:
- Historic preservation and monument conservation
- Horticulture, landscape stewardship, and climate resilience
- Cemetery operations and long-term planning
- Financial sustainability, fundraising, and development
- Technology, data, and evolving cemetery management practices
- Public history, interpretation, and education
- Community engagement, innovative programming, and thoughtful public access
- Balancing active cemetery operations with preservation and visitation
The landscape of Mount Auburn Cemetery / Photo credit: Saxon Holt
Get Involved
The committee welcomes participation from cemetery executives, operators, preservationists, historians, horticulturists, educators, programmers, fundraisers, volunteers, consultants, vendors, and other professionals whose work supports historic and garden cemeteries.
By joining the mailing list, you will receive information about:
- Upcoming committee meetings and virtual programs.
- ICCFA conference sessions and networking opportunities.
- Professional resources and examples from fellow cemetery organizations.
- Opportunities to contribute ideas, presentations, articles, or case studies.
- Committee initiatives and ways to become more involved.
Join the Community
Participation connects you with professionals from historic and garden cemeteries across the country. Members of the committee can join peer discussions, webinars, conference programs, and networking opportunities; learn from case studies and shared resources; and contribute their own ideas, projects, and expertise to the wider field.
Participation is open to ICCFA members interested in historic and garden cemeteries, cultural-landscape stewardship, preservation, interpretation, horticulture, community engagement, and related areas of cemetery management. Not an ICCFA member? You are still welcome to join us for live, free webinars and reach out to committee leadership.
Members of the committee at the As Above/So Below Working Group at the American Association of State and Local History Conference. / Photo credit: North Burial Ground
Historic & Garden Cemeteries Committee Webinar Series
The Historic & Garden Cemeteries Committee Webinar Series brings cemetery professionals together to explore practical challenges, innovative projects, and emerging ideas from across the field. Programs feature practitioners sharing real-world experiences, case studies, and approaches that colleagues can adapt to their own institutions.
The front gate of Graceland Cemetery / Photo credit: Scott Shigley
Contact the Committee
The Historic and Garden Cemeteries Committee is shaped by the experiences and needs of the professionals it serves. We welcome ideas for webinar topics, conference sessions, articles, case studies, collaborative projects, and issues you would like the Committee to explore.
Have a successful project others could learn from? Facing a challenge that other historic cemeteries may share? We want to hear from you.
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