Becoming an Eagle Scout opens doors. When my husband, Dave, was a pre-med undergraduate student in his junior year at Michigan State University his mentor advised him to apply for medical school a year early at Michigan State. This would give him practice filling out applications and interviewing without a lot of pressure.
The mentor then suggested that he apply to dozens of medical schools the following year, as a senior, since this would give him many opportunities to get into one of them. Applying for medical schools is very expensive, so the fact that Dave would apply early to one school as a trial run seemed like sound advice.
To our great surprise, Dave was accepted to Michigan State University’s medical school on this “trial run” without completing his senior year of undergraduate school. The interviewers told him that one of the factors in that decision was that he was an Eagle Scout.
So, young men, if you are contemplating whether or not it is worth the time and effort to finish your Eagle Scout award, do it!
Even if you are short on time, a cemetery documentation project can be planned and carried out quickly and easily with BillionGraves. And it will bless the lives of your own community members and people around the world who are looking for their ancestors.
Are you looking for an Eagle Scout project idea? This step-by-step guide will help you easily carry out a meaningful Eagle Scout cemetery documentation project.
Eagle Scout candidates provide leadership for volunteers who take photos of headstones with their smartphones using the BillionGraves app. It’s as easy as walking through the cemetery snapping pictures and each headstone is automatically embedded with a GPS location.
After the photos are uploaded, the names and dates from the headstones may be transcribed by your volunteers or by BillionGraves’ volunteers.
The data is then made available for the public to find loved ones, for genealogy, and to honor ancestors. The GPS marker makes it easy for people who are searching for the grave to walk straight to it, even in a very large cemetery.
Once the records have been transcribed, they can be viewed on BillionGraves, FamilySearch, or MyHeritage.
Eagle Scout Cemetery Documentation Project in 12 Easy Steps
- Set your goal
- Download the Eagle Scout Project workbook
- Choose a cemetery to document
- Fill out the project description and beneficiary pages
- Gather approval signatures
- Contact the cemetery manager
- Invite volunteers
- Experience the app yourself
- Divide into pairs at the cemetery
- Take photos of the gravestones and upload
- Write your service project report and get signatures
- Schedule your board of review
Eagle Scout Project Step #1: Experience the App Yourself
It is a good idea for you to try out the app before the day of your project. The app is so easy to use. After you have used it, you will be able to help others.
Begin by downloading the BillionGraves app to your smartphone. You can find it in your App Store for iOS phones or GooglePlay for Android phones.
Open the app and start taking photos!
Eagle Scout Project Step #2: Set Your Goal
Here is a chart that can help you set a goal for the number of photos to be taken during your project depending on how many volunteers you expect to participate. # of images taken by volunteers with the BillionGraves app
| 2 hour project | 3 hour project | 4 hour project | |
| 5 volunteers | 2,500 photos | 3,750 photos | 5,000 photos |
| 10 volunteers | 5,000 photos | 7,500 photos | 10,000 photos |
| 20 volunteers | 10,000 photos | 15,000 photos | 20,000 photos |
| 30 volunteers | 15,000 photos | 22,500 photos | 30,000 photos |
| 40 volunteers | 20,000 photos | 30,000 photos | 40,000 photos |
| 50 volunteers | 25,000 photos | 37,500 photos | 50,000 photos |
| 100 volunteers | 50,000 photos | 75,000 photos | 100,000 photos |
Beginners can usually take about 250 photos per hour. That is about 1 photo every 15 seconds.
Encourage your volunteers to move at that pace to help your project reach its goal.
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Eagle Scout James Smith, of Troop 711 in Rockledge, Florida, set a goal to capture 10,000 gravestone pictures. He completed most of his project his own area at the Florida Memorial Gardens Cemetery. But James also had volunteers taking photos in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
So if you have family and friends that live far away who would like to help you with your Eagle Scout project you could ask them, as James Smith did, to take photos in their own area.
Fifteen-year-old Hunter Boyer set a goal to recruit enough volunteers to take photos of over 50,000 graves using the smartphone app BillionGraves the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas.
You can read more about these Eagle Scouts and their projects here.
Eagle Scout Project Step #3: Download the Eagle Service Project Workbook
Download the Eagle Scout service project workbook here: Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook
It will be easiest if you start organizing your project right from the beginning. After you download the workbook, put it in a binder where you can add notes and forms as you progress through the project.
Add a pen and some notebook pages to record information when you are making phone calls. Always keep the binder in the same place – such as on a desk or in a particular drawer – so you don’t have to hunt for it each time you need to update the information or meet with advisors.
This Eagle Scout BillionGraves project guide sheet would be helpful to print for your binder.
Eagle Scout Project Step #4: Choose a Cemetery to Document
When choosing a cemetery you may want to select one that is special to your family. Eagle Scout Michael Morgan planned to carry out his Eagle Scout project in Lyman, Wyoming where his family was holding a reunion. He had lots of help from his grandmother’s descendants since she came from a family of 17 children. Michael said it was a “cool experience being able to be back in Lyman, Wyoming where my grandmother was raised and to be able to photograph some of her family’s graves.”
Another alternative would be to choose a cemetery that is close to your home. This would eliminate travel time and expense for you and any volunteers that live in your area.
A third option is to ask volunteers from different parts of the world to take photos in their own areas on behalf of your Eagle Scout project. Nicolas and Liam Birch worked on their Eagle Scout cemetery documentation projects together. They had volunteers take photos with the BillionGraves app in Arizona, Virginia, Texas, Nebraska, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and even in Germany.
During the Birch’s Eagle Scout project, the headstones of some pretty famous people were documented. They said, “Our uncle and aunt went to Virginia and took pictures at the gravesites of Patrick Henry (‘Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!’), Ralph Waldo Emerson’s mother, and Pocahontas.”
Consider the Number of Volunteers
Select a cemetery that is large enough to accommodate all your volunteers. It is important to help your volunteers have a fun, positive experience. If the cemetery you choose is too small it may be difficult to keep all your volunteers busy and they may get in other’s way when taking photos.
Consider the Layout of the Cemetery
Cemeteries with long straight rows are easiest for beginners and large groups. Cemeteries with unusual layouts such as circles or curves or those that have randomly placed gravesites are better for small or more experienced groups. They will be better able to keep track of which headstones have already been photographed.
If your volunteers are older it may be easier for them to walk if you choose a cemetery with level ground. Flat gravestones that are on the ground can be easier to photograph than headstones, which may have multiple sides to photograph. Military cemeteries have headstones of uniform shape and size with no inscriptions on the back and are placed in straight rows, so they are easier.
Younger volunteers can tackle cemeteries with large spaces of land between sections, those with hills, or gravestones that may need to have grass or other debris brushed out of the way.
Cemetery Maps
Click HERE to find a cemetery where photos are still needed. Login or create a new account as needed.
Click on “Find a Cemetery”.
Click on one of the pins on the area map.
Click on “get started”. A map of the cemetery will appear.
The orange dots on the map indicate where GPS-linked photos have already been taken. If there are areas with gravestones that have no pins, then your service is needed to photograph that section of the cemetery.
Eagle Scout Project Step #5: Fill Out Project Description and Beneficiary Pages
Eagle Scout Project Description
Begin by writing a summary of the overall project. It should be about 2 paragraphs long. Fill in a time, date, and place for your Eagle Scout project.
Decide who you will use as volunteers. The Boy Scout organization emphasizes that if you choose to use adults as volunteers you may need to remind them that one of the purposes of the project is for you to exercise your leadership skills. You need to be in charge of the project.
Beneficiary
Your beneficiary may be:
- BillionGraves (email us at Eagle@BillionGraves.com)
- A cemetery manager
- A city council member
- An employee in charge of the cemetery
BillionGraves’ guidelines for Eagle Scout projects answers the question:
Does BillionGraves qualify for use in an Eagle Project?
“Absolutely – On page 4 of the Eagle workbook it says: ‘Some aspect of a business operation provided as a community service may also be considered—for example, a park open to the public that happens to be owned by a business, but primarily benefits the community.’ While BillionGraves isn’t a park it is a FREE service to the community that benefits thousands of people researching their family history, and cemetery sextons who spend too much time helping people find graves instead of taking care of the cemetery.
“Technically BillionGraves itself is not the project. The Eagle project should focus on documenting a cemetery and preserving the historical records found there. BillionGraves is a tool that can be used to facilitate the project, store the information and make it freely available to everyone. Ultimately, the local council or district is responsible for determining if an Eagle project is approved.”
Eagle Scout Project Step #6: Gather Approval Signatures
You will need signatures from the unit leader, unit committee, beneficiary, and council or district leaders. Leave yourself enough time to gather these signatures. They are essential.
You may not be able to catch everyone on the first call. Keep trying. One of our sons had trouble contacting a district leader because the post was in transition as someone was retiring. Persistence paid off in the end and he got the signature.
To obtain a signature from BillionGraves send an email to Eagle@BillionGraves.com.
Eagle Scout Project Step #7: Contact the Cemetery Manager
Some large cemeteries have offices on-site. If there is not an office at the cemetery, try calling the city offices and ask who the cemetery manager is for the cemetery you have chosen.
Contact the cemetery manager to let them know that you are interested in documenting your chosen cemetery by taking photos. Indicate that it will be for an Eagle Scout project. Tell them about how many volunteers you expect to participate. They will usually be very happy to have someone performing this service for the community. They may even offer to help.
Eagle Scout Project Step #8: Invite Volunteers
Here are some ways you can invite volunteers:
- Send a group text
- Send a group email
- Call friends and family on the phone
- Call local organizations to ask them to join you
- Mail invitations
- Put a notice in your local newspaper (If you would like a template for this, email us at Eagle@BillionGraves.com)
- Ask BillionGraves to post a mass text to BillionGraves subscribers in your area by emailing us at Eagle@BillionGraves.com
Instruct your volunteers to load the BillionGraves app to their smartphones before coming to the cemetery! They can do this through the app store on their phones.
Eagle Scout Project Step #9: Divide into Pairs at the Cemetery
Divide your group into pairs. As one person takes photos in a row, their partner takes photos in the next row. Then they can leap-frog over each other’s rows after they complete their own.
Or assign each pair of volunteers to photograph an entire section of the cemetery.
Eagle Scout Project Step #10: Take Photos of the Gravestones and Upload
Now for the fun part! Taking photos with the BillionGraves app is so fast and easy! Beginners can take about 250 photos per hour. Those who are more experienced can take 500 or more in an hour.
Photo-taking Tips:
- Make sure all the names and dates are in the frame.
- If your shadow casts over the gravestone, stand off to the side.
- Clear away grass clippings and weeds that block information.
- Hold living plants and floral arrangements aside while you take the photo.
- Those without smartphones can help others by clearing debris away from the headstones
- If the headstone has information on more than one side, use the linking icon in the corner of the screen to link the photos together. The linking icon looks like a chain.
Instruct your volunteers to upload their photos at the cemetery if they have unlimited data and their battery is still well-charged. Otherwise, they can upload them from home after they have connected to Wi-Fi and plugged their phone in.
Eagle Scout Project Step #11: Write Your Service Project Report and Get Signatures
If you have kept good records along the way your final report will be easy.
Tips:
- Emphasize your role as a leader (use statements like “I decided” and “I said”)
- Summarize your project
- Include what you set out to accomplish
- List steps you took to prepare
- Indicate why you chose this specific project
- Tell who your beneficiary is and how this project has helped them
- If you had a leader-mentor that instructed you technically mention them by name
- Describe any problems you encountered and how you resolved them
- Photos may be included
- If you have a cemetery map you could add it to your report
- Include your feelings about the project
Gather your final signatures as required on the Eagle Scout project form.
Eagle Scout Project Step #12: Schedule Your Board of Review
Schedule your board of review. Wear your uniform to the meeting and behave professionally. Since you took the lead in this project, you will be well prepared to speak about it and you should be well on your way to being the next Eagle Scout!
When all of the gravestones have been photographed, go to the BillionGraves site to declare that the cemetery has been completed.
Send your group one last message to thank them. You could also encourage them to photograph a cemetery themselves now that they know how to use the easy BillionGraves app.
Consider getting together to transcribe the information on the gravestones from your photos. Go to BillionGraves.com/transcribe to transcribe.
Families around the world are grateful for people like you who take photos that allow them to find their ancestor’s graves and help preserve the memories of their loved ones.
Contact BillionGraves to Get Started
BillionGraves would love to be the beneficiary of your Eagle Scout project! Email us at Eagle@BillionGraves.com. We will provide you with the signatures you need and guidelines that will help you every step of the way.
Happy Cemetery Hopping!
Cathy Wallace
