As years go by, tombstones – the markers above graves – can become so faded that the words are hard to read. Instead of losing the information these markers contain, their history can be preserved by the simple activity of making tombstone rubbings.  

In this video, students from Thomas J. Rusk Elementary School in Nacogdoches, Texas, travel to a nearby cemetery to do tombstone rubbings. By holding sheets of fabric over a tombstone and running a crayon over the surface, the words on the headstone magically reappear. Later, the students will iron their fabric so the crayon is permanently embedded in the fabric, creating a lasting piece of artwork and preserving the names and dates on the crumbling headstones.