Tuesday, May 20, 2014

First Annual Unreadables Tombstone Challenge

Here is a project started by Canada GenWeb that we can all help with -

Canada GenWeb is looking for people to help decipher tombstones that have been photographed but are unreadable due to being weathered, for example.

And unfortunately there are many photos that are unsearchable because they are difficult, or impossible, to decipher. That means that those named on the stone cannot be found.

To change that,Canada GenWeb are starting the First Annual Unreadables Challenge! The goal is to decipher as many headstones as possible. And they are all across Canada.

Can you help put a name to some of our unreadable stones and possibly help someone find their long-lost relation?

Go to http://geneofun.on.ca/query/?table=NAMES&template=query_challenge&search=FIRST&search=SURNAME&find=(u&smode=S&sort=ASSIGNED,SURNAME,FIRST to see the unreadable tombstones. 

To see what is needed in the way of volunteers, go to http://cemetery.canadagenweb.org/volunteer/index.html

3 comments:

GailD said...

Odd that this Canadian project to decipher headstones does not include any from Quebec. Does that mean that headstones in Quebec are easy to read?

CallieK said...

Interesting project! I found some on the list that were in Russian so I made my Russian translate a couple. He quit after two but I'm hoping I can coax him into doing a few everyday!

Mike More said...

Has anybody considered looking at the published transcriptions of these cemeteries? Many were done years ago when the tombstones were still legible. The transcriptions may also contain information on stones that no longer remain to be photographed.