Telling stories from the graves

As DeRaddo scrubs centuries’ worth of dirt off gravestones, she tells her TikTok followers the stories of those buried beneath them. — ©2024 The New York Times Company

GREENVALE Rural Cemetery, nestled alongside the Erie Canal in Fairport, New York, offers a serene backdrop with its towering oak trees casting shade over a patchwork of graves – tombstones, mausoleums, slanted markers, and plaques.

Typically, the only sounds breaking the stillness are birdsong, the hum of cicadas, and the distant horn of passing trains. Occasionally, the quiet is punctuated by rhythmic scraping or the soft swish of brushes against stone.