Preserving Utah’s Cemeteries lecture given by Amy Barry

Park City Museum will host a lecture called Preserving Utah’s Cemeteries given by Amy Barry on Wednesday, May 21, 2025 from 5-6 p.m. held at the Park City Museum Education and Collections Center located at 2079 Sidewinder Drive. More information can be found at www.parkcityhistory.org.

Utah’s first cemetery was established in Salt Lake City in 1847. As the population spread throughout the state so did the need for burial grounds. Most Utah communities still maintain their cemeteries that date back to the mid to late 1800s.

The efforts to preserve those cemeteries has focused on repairing the historic stones. Well- meaning people attempted to repair these older stones but had no knowledge of proper methods and products. It wasn’t until the last 20 years that we can benefit from scientific research that studied effects of different products and chemicals on the stone. We now can utilize this knowledge in efforts to preserve our historic headstones. These stones have many stories to tell.

Amy Barry manages the Utah Cemeteries Program within the State Historic Preservation Office. In this position she oversees Cemetery Preservation efforts, administers a grant for cemeteries, manages a database of burials of over 700,000 records and maintains a map of cemeteries and burial sites throughout the state. Amy is driven by preserving our past. Amy conducts workshops with the public and cemetery personnel to teach proper methods for cleaning, resetting and repairs. Amy also has a lab/workshop in the SHPO office where she tackles more difficult restorations on stones for cemeteries throughout the state. Restoration work adheres to preservation guidelines and techniques. The cemeteries program manager has been leading preservation of headstones within Utah since 2019. Her work has given her an excuse to spend a lot of time in cemeteries and she enjoys talking about preservation with anyone that will listen.

In her personal life Amy has been a strong advocate for community. She served on the Sugar House Community Council for 9 years, founded the Sugar House Farmers Market, chaired on the Salt Lake City Parks, Natural Lands, Urban Forestry and Trails Advisory Board and currently serves on the Salt Lake City Planning Commission. She has a MS from the University of Montana in Environmental Studies and another MS from the University of Utah in Political Science & Public Administration. Amy has published in the Association of Gravestone Studies quarterly publication and presented at the American Institute for Conservation conference.