LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Researchers from the University of Louisville are working to help families identify their loved ones, uncovering the hidden past of a Kentucky cemetery. 

What You Need To Know

  • Researchers with the University of Louisville’s Center for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage are working to map Eastern Cemetery

  • A 1980s court case revealed LCI, a company that managed the cemetery, used harmful and inhumane practices since the 1850s

  • Researchers estimate 100,000 to more than 130,000 people are buried in the 29-acre cemetery, eight times the burial regulation

  • The research team is working with the nonprofit Friends of Eastern Cemetery to help keep alive the memories of those buried

Underneath a patch of lively plants lies questions that have been growing since the 1840s. Codi Goodwin surveys the grounds to uncover the truth behind Eastern Cemetery in Louisville.

In the 1980s, a court case found the 29-acre cemetery was overcrowded, with an estimate of 100,000 to more than 130,000 burials, up to eight times the burial regulation.

“We keep finding new leads into questions, like a headstone that’s a lot older than all the other surrounding headstones, but we can’t find the record for it,” said Goodwin, a research assistant.

Goodwin has teamed up with Thomas Jennings and researchers from the University of Louisville’s Center for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage to locate the burials and help families identify the location of their loved one’s final resting place, thanks to a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Jennings said LCI, a company that managed and maintained Eastern Cemetery, used harmful and inhumane practices since the 1850s. 

“They would resell grave plots and then dig up or remove or even just bury on top of people who are already buried in those grave plots over and over and over again,” said Jennings, director of the University of Louisville’s Center for Archeology and Cultural Heritage. 

A lack of upkeep has caused the cemetery to become difficult to navigate, the team said. Some headstones have sunk into the earth or have been removed. 

“We realized the importance of getting more accurate maps of the cemetery itself, surviving headstones, which will then help us hopefully retrace where people are buried and match up surviving headstones with records on the historic maps and historic documents,” Jennings said. 

The team added it hopes its research will raise awareness of Eastern Cemetery’s history and help families find closure, allowing their legacy to live on. 

“What’s happening here is really a forever project, especially for the volunteers that have to come out and deal with the trees falling, the grass growing and everything else that comes with cemetery maintenance,” Goodwin said. 

The research team is working with the nonprofit Friends of Eastern Cemetery to help keep alive the memories of those buried. 

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