Volunteer

We only accept photos taken by the person submitting them. If you did not personally take the photos, please do not send them in.

What Does a Volunteer Photographer Do?
Your role is to:

• Visit a Canadian cemetery
• Take photographs of headstones
• Submit the images to be posted on this website

Requirements:
– Ability to visit a Canadian cemetery
– A good-quality camera (digital preferred, but film is welcome) and basic photography skills
– Ability to send digital copies of your photos (via email or regular mail)

💡 Note: We also welcome older photos, regardless of when they were taken. If you’d like to submit these, just locate the cemetery on our website and use the submission form provided.

If you want to photograph an entire cemetery (or a full section of a large cemetery):
1. Locate the cemetery on our website
2. Fill out the volunteer form found below the cemetery’s info table
3. Wait for confirmation from our volunteer coordinator
4. Once confirmed, visit the cemetery and photograph every headstone
5. Submit your photos

Submitting photos you’ve already taken:
1. Locate the cemetery on our website
2. Check that we don’t already have those photos—use the name index if available.

💡 Note: We don’t index living persons, but may have a photo of a stone indexed with a surname.

3. Fill out the volunteer form below the cemetery’s info table.

Additional Resources

• Photo FAQ – Learn more about photo submissions
• Indexing Photos – if you’d like to index your own submissions
• Liability & Permissions – Read before visiting any cemetery (found under ‘Signing Up’)

Do you:

• Have a few hours to spare?
• Enjoy typing?
• Love the challenge of deciphering old headstones?

If so, we’d love your help!

Requirements
To volunteer, you should have:

• Enough time to index at least 100 photos within a 7-day period
• Accurate typing skills
• Basic knowledge of (or willingness to learn) Google Drive
• Ability to use Excel, Google Sheets, OpenOffice, or similar spreadsheet software

How It Works

1. Read our Indexing Cemetery Photos information page
2. Sign up as a volunteer on that page
3. Once signed up, you’ll receive instructions to download a batch of photos
4. Index the photos following the provided guidelines
5. When you’re done, send back just the index file

A lookup volunteer is someone who’s willing to visit a cemetery upon private request to locate and transcribe or photograph a specific headstone.

📸 If you’re interested in photographing an entire cemetery for this website, please sign up as a photographer instead.

What To Expect
As a lookup volunteer:

• You may receive several requests a week—or none at all. It depends on how much interest there is in the cemetery you’ve offered to help with.
• Your volunteer position will remain active as long as your name and email are listed on the site. To remove your offer, please use this form.

Requirements

• Ability to visit the cemetery and transcribe or photograph a headstone on short notice (based on your own terms*)
• Ability to send and receive emails in a timely manner

*Lookup terms help set expectations for those making a request—see examples below.

How It Works

1. Locate the cemetery you want to offer lookups for on our website.
2. Fill out the “Offer a Lookup” form on that cemetery’s page.
   • You’ll be asked for your name, email address, and your lookup terms (see below).
3. After we receive your form, your name and email will be posted on the cemetery’s page.
4. Interested visitors will contact you directly to request a lookup.
5. You can then respond with the requested information—if available.

Setting Lookup Terms

Your lookup terms should describe the limits of your offer, such as:
“Limited to Section A of the cemetery”
“Lookups available only during summer months”
“Digital photos via email only”
“Transcriptions only—no photos”

We’re looking for volunteers to help us gather more information about Canadian cemeteries. Anyone, anywhere can participate—you don’t need to live in Canada to help out!

Requirements

• Ability to locate and share accurate information

How It Works

1. Choose a Canadian cemetery listed on our site
2. Research as much as you can about it*
3. Submit what you find using the form on that cemetery’s page

There’s no need to sign up for this position—just pick a cemetery and start sleuthing!
When you’re ready to share what you’ve discovered, use the “Correct or add Information” form found on that cemetery’s page.

🔍 Please use the form on the specific cemetery page to ensure your info goes to the correct place.

What Kind of Info Are We Looking For?

We welcome any details that fill in the blanks! Some examples:

• Official and local names of the cemetery
• When it was first used and officially established
• Street address and/or GPS coordinates
• Where to find transcriptions, indexes, or photos (online or offline)
• Any other facts that would help genealogists or researchers

💡 If you’re interested in submitting actual burial data, consider signing up as a photographer or transcriber instead.

We’re looking for volunteers to help translate headstone inscriptions that are not written in English. If you’re fluent in another language, this is a great way to contribute!

Requirements

• Fluency in both English and the language needing translation
• Ability to type accurately

How to Help

1. Use the site’s search feature to look for “(Not in English)” in either name field.
2. Choose a headstone that needs translation.
3. Click the “Correction” form link located below the photo.
4. Submit your English translation using the form.
5. Repeat the process as often as you’d like!

⏳ Please note: It may take a few days for your translations to appear on the website.

Sadly, many headstones are partially or completely unreadable, missing names, or only labeled with terms like “Father” or “Grandmother.” We’re looking for dedicated researchers (a.k.a. miracle workers!) to help uncover the names behind these markers.

How to Help

🔎 Option 1: Site-Wide Search

1. Use the website’s search feature to look for these keywords in either name field:
   (unreadable), (unknown), (Father), (Mother), (Brother), (Sister), (Grandfather), (Grandmother)
2. Choose a result to investigate
3. Click the “Correction” form link below the headstone photo
4. Submit any identifying information you’ve discovered
5. Repeat the process for as many as you’d like!

🗺️ Option 2: Research a Specific Cemetery

1. Choose a local or familiar cemetery that has already been photographed
2. Browse for headstones with unreadable or missing names
3. Click the “Correction” form link beneath the photo
4. Share any info you find
5. Repeat the steps with more headstones

Every correction helps connect people to their ancestors. Thanks for being part of the effort!