In order not to let the history of the territory's necropolises die, specialists from the Office of the Cienfuegos City Conservator (OCCC) are working on the digitalization of all the records of the Tomás Acea Cemetery, including the José Federico Porrúa Taillacq Fund, which contains valuable archives on this building.

"The work is undertaken by our restorer-conservators, who are not only dedicated to safeguarding the monuments of funerary art, but also the stationery, period photos and documents that we archive for their conservation and use," said Hilda María Mola Trujillo, museologist and senior specialist of the OCCC Cemetery Group.
restoration of the Tomás Acea cienfuegos cemetery collection.

One of the most important records corresponds to 1957, the year of the armed popular uprising in Cienfuegos city.

These collections are of great importance for historians, anthropologists and students of related university specialities , that is why it was decided to digitize them, especially due to the high degree of deterioration of many of the books. Today, all the documentation concerning the Reina Cemetery is processed, with details about the founding families of the former Fernandina de Jagua colony and those who contributed to its splendor.

Mola Trujillo pointed out that in the records of the Tomás Acea cemetery there are numerous references to war veterans and martyrs, before and after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. "One of the most significant is the one that gathers information about the combatants who fell in the armed popular uprising of September 5, 1957. This one -she said- was previously restored in the paper laboratory of the Office of the  city Conservator".

The most frequent causes of death, the age at which people died, as well as the doctors who certified the deaths, are some of the details contained in the burial books. There are also notes on the sale of lots and the first families that acquired them. The José Federico Porrúa Taillacq Fund compiles, on the other hand, plans, projects and sketches of most of the notable pantheons, elaborated by who was the surveyor of the "Tomás Acea".

"During the current year -added Mola Trujillo- we will begin the investigation of the 'causa bertillon', to find out where it comes from and why it is in several of the burial certificates we have found. We assume that it has some kind of link with forensic activity; it will be a study that will contribute data of interest to the local historical memory".

The museologist and senior specialist of the Cemetery Group, of the OCCC, concluded that the digitization of these records and collections is a long process, "it takes time, very rigorous, page by page, so as not to further accelerate the damage they show."

(Taken from 5 de Septiembre

English version Hector Hdez.