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History: NCA History Blog
NCA historians blog about current events, cemeteries, preservation projects, headstones and monuments, Memorial Day, notable persons and much more. Read our featured blog post or view the list below.
Featured Blog Post
Floor Plan of VA's Historic Indoor Columbarium
By Sara Amy Leach, Senior Historian, NCA
In the United States, cremation of the dead and interment of the ashes or cremains in above-ground structures known as columbaria grew increasingly popular in the 1920s. Cremation interments accounted for over 55 percent of all VA burials in 2021. In June 1941, Charles Ray Smith—aviation mechanic, Army Veteran, was the first interment at what is now the Los Angeles National Cemetery. Continue reading this blog post.
1940s-era floor plan of VA's first and only indoor columbarium at Los Angeles National Cemetery. The diagram helped visitors locate the niche holding the cremated remains of their loved one. (NCA)
List of NCA History Blog Posts
| Blog Post | Date |
|---|---|
| Halyburton and Grimsley – Story of U.S.'s first POW in WWI | November 23, 2021 |
| Remembering the USS Indianapolis | November 15, 2021 |
| 1973 – When VA took over the National Cemetery System | November 12, 2021 |
| Exhibit – USCT Substitutes in the Border States, Buried in National Cemeteries | November 12, 2021 |
| John Pitzer and the journey to Loutre Island | November 12, 2021 |
| Lincoln and Grant in Lights: The Grand Army of the Republic's 1887 memorial stained-glass windows | November 1, 2021 |
| NCA Monuments Dedicated on Memorial Day | May 1, 2021 |
| The World's Most Intrepid Airman is a Woman: Remembering Katherine Stinson Otero | March 25, 2021 |
| Contrasting Lives: WWI Black Veterans Everett Johnson and Robert Chase | February 27, 2021 |
| Creating a Formidable Force: Colonel Dan T. Moore | February 26, 2021 |
| Trailblazers, Advocates, and the Anguished: Veteran Profiles of the 349th Field Artillery | February 25, 2021 |
| Blog Post | Date |
|---|---|
| Friendship in Death: The Nimitz Plot at Golden Gate National Cemetery | August 14, 2020 |
| Remembering Fort Gratiot's July 1832 cholera victims at Lakeside Cemetery Soldiers Lot | July 31, 2020 |
| Remembering the USS Indianapolis (CA 35) on its 75th Anniversary | July 30, 2020 |
| Jo Ann K. Webb: NCA's First Female Director | March 19, 2020 |
| The Story of NCA's Presidential Memorial Certificate | January 21, 2020 |
| Blog Post | Date |
|---|---|
| National Day of the Horse & the 3rd Massachusetts Cavalry | December 3, 2019 |
| Enslaved to Enlisted: Reddy Gray's Grave is Underground Railroad site | September 4, 2019 |
| Emma Morrill Fogg French – Civil War Nurse | July 8, 2019 |
| Cemetery Monuments Embody Service, Sacrifice | May 24, 2019 |
| May is for Memorial Day...and Mowing | May 23, 2019 |
| Mount Moriah Naval Plot: History and Restoration | May 16, 2019 |
| Resuscitating Dayton National Cemetery's 'Tunnel of Death' | May 3, 2019 |
| 97 years ago: New Government Headstone for World War Veterans | April 26, 2019 |
| President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in National Cemeteries is a Birthday Legacy | February 12, 2019 |
| Blog Post | Date |
|---|---|
| Memorial Day at 150 | May 17, 2018 |
| Buffalo Soldier Makes History Serving as Superintendent of VA Cemeteries | February 28, 2018 |
| NCA Historians Preserve National Cemeteries: 50th anniversary of National Historic Preservation Act | October 27, 2016 |
