ROCKINGHAM, Vt. – The Rockingham Cemetery Committee, in collaboration with local historical societies and preservationists, is proud to announce the launch of a comprehensive public exhibit at the Rockingham Free Public Library. The exhibit offers an immersive look into the town’s five municipal burial grounds, exploring how their distinct landscapes, iconography, and records document the social, cultural, and structural evolution of the region from the late 18th century to the modern era.
The exhibit includes broad regional preservation standards and deeply personal local history. Featured content includes an exploration of the renowned Rockingham School of stone carvers. Led by the Moses Wright family in the 1790s, the Rockingham School produced the fractured 1798 Samuel Walker slate headstone, which is part of the exhibit. Restoring the Samuel Walker stone is a project the Rockingham Cemetery Committee hopes to fund and complete, in alignment with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Preservation. Visitors will also discover the fascinating history of “white bronze” zinc monuments manufactured by the Monumental Bronze Company, which remain remarkably well-preserved across the Oak Hill, Saxtons River, and Cambridgeport grounds.
A major highlight of the display is its focus on the human stories safeguarded within these historic spaces. Through personal interviews and oral histories, the exhibit showcases the Kinney family, of Saxtons River, demonstrating the unique value of localized record-keeping over generalized online databases. These narratives are accompanied by extensive document transcriptions and professional, timestamped assessment photography by local photographer Tricia Suriani, whose field imagery forms the bedrock of the town’s current preservation and digitization initiatives.
“Cemeteries are enduring cultural landscapes; they tell the stories of our ancestors and serve as a direct indicator of civic pride,” said the committee, echoing regional preservation principles. “This exhibit is designed to spark a communitywide conversation about how these sacred spaces should be protected, funded, and utilized as public resources today.”
Beyond historical education, the exhibit serves as a call to action for the community. The Rockingham Cemetery Committee is actively seeking volunteers to assist with seasonal landscape cleanup, grave marker restoration, and an ongoing collaboration with the public library to build a searchable digital database.
The exhibit is free and open to the public during normal library hours. For more information on the exhibit, funding preservation projects, or joining the volunteer network, please contact the committee directly at ChairofRockinghamCemeteryComm@gmail.com.
The Rockingham Cemetery Committee invites the community to the opening reception on Saturday, July 11, at 12 p.m. Join us at the Rockingham Free Public Library for tea and cookies. See maps of the five Rockingham cemeteries, learn about local family history, and see a historic tombstone that is ready for renovation.
Additionally, FACT TV’s “The Feed with Mike and Marty” held interviews with guests Anne Manner-McLarty and Mary Kinney, the chair of the Rockingham Cemetery Committee and the matriarch of the Kinney family, whose history is explored in the exhibit. The interviews can be found at www.fact8.com/on-fact-tv/community-videos/the-feed/the-feed-rockingham-cemeteries.