"Save America's Treasures is dedicated to identifying and rescuing the enduring symbols of American tradition that identify us as a nation. Honor the past, imagine the future."

Save America's Treasures is a public-private partnership between the National Park Service and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Save America's Treasures

In 2001, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 was nominated to the Save America's Treasures (SAT) program and has recently received unprecedented funding to begin preservation work. The current Save America's Treasures program has three major objectives:

1. To stabilize those tombs in a critical emergency condition
2. To complete a model restoration of a typical tombscape of 30 tombs of diverse style and type
3. To provide local training for specialists in masonry preservation

The SAT project is under the direction of Frank Matero, University of Pennsylvania, Ann Masson, Assistant Director, and Dorothy Krotzer, supervising conservator. The SAT project team includes Laura Ewen, Lindsay Hannah, Heather Knight, and Sophie Middlebrook, conservation assistants; Pietro Mangarella and Kecia Fong, conservators; Royal Osborne, Raphael Perrault masons; Anthony Henderson, Patricia Hulin, and Jim Jenkins, artisans; Laurence Saltzman, documentary photographer and Judy Peters, Architectural Conservation Research Center support.

Emergency Stabilization - The SAT program addresses those tombs in the poorest condition in the hopes of stopping further deterioration until additional preservation funds become available. Thirty-five tombs have been identified for emergency stabilization based on the earlier survey. Most emergency work includes the repair and closure of open roofs. This work requires both traditional masonry techniques and specialized preservation knowledge. Typical emergency stabilization work includes cleaning the debris and vegetation from tomb roofs and relaying and replacing bricks in a soft traditional lime mortar as originally constructed. All tombs are carefully studied and documented prior to stabilization and occasionally construction details are changed for better durability.

Tombscape Restoration - Alley 9-L was selected as a candidate for restoration of a representative cemetery "tombscape" because of the degree of material and structural integrity that remains in this particular alley of the cemetery. In addition, there are historical images (mainly photographs) of Alley 9-L that document its appearance throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The alley also retains its much of its shell and dirt path. The thirty-one tombs on this alley have been documented and fully or partially restored by the SAT Conservation Team and contracted local craftspeople, following the model of the three pilot tombs restored by Save Our Cemeteries last year (Esteve, Bergamini and Perrault).

By coordinating the knowledge and skills of many specialists to develop and implement a conservation plan for St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, this multi-faceted project provides an alternative approach to the long-term preservation and care of a very unique and important American place. The results of all phases of the project may be accessed here on this website, the Save Our Cemeteries, Inc. website, www.saveourcemeteries.org, and through articles in Preservation in Print, an award-winning journal published by Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans and the Louisiana State Historic Preservation Office.