Volunteer
Spirits Alive is an all-volunteer organization. If you would like to help, please email us.
Volunteers include tapophiles (aka cemetery fans), neighbors, history buffs, gardeners, cemetery supporters, and green space enthusiasts. Since 2006, Spirits Alive volunteers have:
- Conserved 100s of the marble, granite and slate grave markers on site
- Conducted 100s of tours for visitors
- Planted over 100 trees and flowering shrubs
- Advocated for more public access to the site
- Worked with the city of Portland to keep the grounds manicured and refurbish the Dead House, front gate, and fence
- Worked with local playwrights and actors to produce a popular October evening event called Walk Among the Shadows
- Raised funds for and installed granite bench seating
- Sponsored "Beyond the Gates – Art Inspired by the Eastern Cemetery,” a summer-long artist program
- Held stone conservation training workshops
- Paid for professional stone conservators to teach us and repair larger monuments in the cemetery
- Transcribed the condition and inscription of every stone in the cemetery
- Conducted an annual winter lecture series featuring cemetery and history authors and speakers
- Promoted and publicized the cemetery and its events to the local community
- Begun creating a photographic archive of all the markers in the cemetery
Current Opportunities
Walking Tours: Trained guides conduct tours on site at daily from May through mid-October. Tours are also needed for school children and private groups of all ages scheduled by request. Guides are expected to go through a training with the tour coordinator to understand the context of the burial ground within the history of Portland, learn about “residents” of the cemetery, be able to describe the art and symbolism prevalent on gravestones as well as explain Spirits Alive conservation efforts. For more information, email us!
Gardening Workdays: We maintain shrubbery beds, prune shrubs and small trees, and restrain invasive vines threatening our perimeter fence and adjacent city sidewalks. We have been working to halt erosion on slopes by transplanting plugs of a native grass flourishing elsewhere in the cemetery. Group workdays will be scheduled periodically throughout the spring and summer and volunteers may choose to work on their own once familiar with the processes. Email us if you want to be included on the list.
Board Members: We are a small group of volunteers that organize and direct the activities and events that happen around Eastern Cemetery. If you ever wanted to help us, please let us know! We're always looking for eager and responsible members who would be willing to volunteer their time for quarterly meetings and participate in how we run the non-profit. Board experience is a plus, but not required. We will ask that you demonstrate your love for the cemetery by consistently volunteering for at least a year before being elected to the board.
We are also looking for a volunteer coordinator if you like working with fun cemetery people.
Research & Education Committee: is most active during winter months providing research for our Walk Among the Shadows event each October when “spirits” share their personal stories and entertain visitors on early evening tours. Members also recommend and contract with speakers for history-themed lectures in January, February, and March.
Feel free to bring us your ideas for volunteering! If you would like to help, please email us.