ABOUT
Lansing's cemeteries - Evergreen, Mt. Hope and North - belong to the City and its citizens. This group of dedicated volunteers helps improve and maintain these pockets of local history.
Unlike modern "mow over" cemeteries, our historic cemeteries require a great deal of hard work. Time takes its toll on the cemeteries. There are numerous broken, tilted or toppled markers and monuments. Former lovely cedars and other trees and shrubs are overgrown and need trimming or removal. Urns remain unplanted, or are filled with weeds, including poison ivy. Brawny woodchucks have undermined monuments. The old water pipes constantly break.
A few lone volunteers cannot keep up! That is why several of us who care about our cemeteries formed the Friends of Lansing's Historic Cemeteries in April of 2007. We are a 501-c-3 nonprofit and our mission is "to protect, promote" and prosper the three city-owned cemeteries. We aim to educate the community about the cemeteries, increase awareness and appreciation of them, and advocate for them to receive appropriate attention and resources from the city.
Our first major project was a fundraiser in September of 2007. It included a historic tour of Mt. Hope Cemetery and a "Founders Feast" at the Cadillac Club. In October 2007 we completed a survey of Mt. Hope Cemetery, walking all of its sections to assess and document the conditions of markers, monuments and vegetation. This process was later repeated at North Cemetery. We have held Annual Fall Walking Tours of Mt. Hope Cemetery on the last Sunday in September since 2007. Each year the tour theme varies, focusing on unusual and interesting aspects of the lives of the featured people perpetually resting in those hallowed grounds.
Our list of accomplishments is long and varied, and to date includes the restoration of over 120 monuments in Mt. Hope Cemetery. Those restorations were funded by our Annual Race to Restore 5K run/walk held inside Mt. Hope Cemetery in the fall. We raised $21,000 in 9 weeks to place individual markers on the 60 unmarked graves at the Boys Training School burial site in Mt. Hope Cemetery. In December 2019 we opened the Cemetery Courtesy Office, staffed by volunteers, in a historic public/private partnership with the city. We obtained a State of Michigan Historical Marker for Mt. Hope Cemetery to help ensure its continuing protection.
We invite you to join us in this ongoing mission by becoming a Friend or volunteering for projects and/or events. Our board meets on the first Thursday each month at 7:00 p.m. in the Cemetery Courtesy Office at 1709 E. Mt. Hope Ave., directly across from the archway entry to Mt. Hope Cemetery. Meetings are open to the public but attendance is not mandated - we know how busy everyone is so we keep members informed via Facebook, our quarterly newsletter, and this website.
To become a member please see the Join Us page. You also can support us by visiting our Donation page.
For additional information, visit our Contact page.