Date of Award
Summer 2009
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Public Administration (MPA)
Department
Political Science
Abstract
In 2007-2008, the City of Kennesaw received a grant from the United States Department of Natural Resources to begin underground imaging of their cemetery. The City contracted with Virtual Underground to do the imaging, plotting, and photography of headstones. The purpose of the underground imaging was to clarify where burials were made and in what section. Many of the burials in the cemetery were during the Civil War area when casual burial practices were employed. Since then, many of the cemetery lots have been sold to families to inter their deceased. To accurately identify the amount of space available to the families for safe burial, the City needed to elucidate by means of the underground imaging. Moreover, this being a historic cemetery, the Cemetery Preservation Committee wanted a photograph of each headstone to preserve its original order and catalog the history of the cemetery. After Virtual Underground commenced imaging, funds became unavailable to complete the plotting and photography on the entire cemetery. Virtual completed imaging on the entire cemetery, plotting, and photography on the older Sections A, and B.
The purpose of my internship at the City of Kennesaw is to begin plotting and photography were Virtual Underground stopped. Furthermore, because of unsound recordkeeping in the past, the City is currently operating off three maps and two databases when selling cemetery lots. The completion of this project will allow the City Clerk’s Office to work off one map and one database. The expected benefits will save both personnel time and City funds.