Full Breakdown
Vermont Graveyard Cleaner Turns Tombstone Care into Online History Lessons
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Activity and Audience
Caitlin Abrams, a mother of two living in western Vermont, spends her weekends cleaning 18th- and 19th-century gravestones with a pump sprayer and a small brush. While she removes moss and grime, she narrates the lives of the deceased, cross-referencing birth, marriage and death records as well as newspaper archives. Abrams describes the work as “journalism, but for dead people,” and says she lets the stones “pick” her, often focusing on young women and children whose stories are less frequently highlighted. Her videos attract viewers drawn to the soothing sounds of cleaning and to the historical insights she provides.
Pandemic-Fueled Rise of Cemetery-Cleaning Content
The practice gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people sought low-risk outdoor hobbies that also offered a way to contemplate mortality. Online platforms have amplified the trend, allowing creators like Abrams to build sizable followings by posting “cleaning” footage that many find calming.
Professional Concerns and Guidance
Monument-restoration specialist John Appell, CEO of Atlas Preservation, warns that inexperienced volunteers can damage fragile markers. He notes an amateur genealogist admitted in 2021 to harming roughly 200 gravestones in a Maryland cemetery. Appell stresses the importance of proper training and permission from cemetery authorities.
Verbatim Quotes
- “Cleaning is just one aspect of a much bigger subject,” — John Appell, a monument and gravestone restoration professional and CEO of Atlas Preservation
Historical and Cultural Context
Data-visualization expert Joshua Stevens has mapped more than 144,000 U.S. cemeteries, highlighting the widespread need for both cleaning and preservation. Abrams points out that early American cemeteries functioned as public parks where communities gathered—a tradition that has faded. She also references cultural practices such as Mexico’s Day of the Dead, when families clean and decorate graves from Oct. 31 through Nov. 2.
Future Directions
Experts suggest workshops for volunteers to learn safe cleaning techniques, citing a 2016 effort in Louisiana that restored a Civil-War-era cemetery with hundreds of participants.