Cemetery preservation on the Lower Eastern Shore
In Memory of James Russell “Jim” Trader
Remembering a determined researcher and advocate whose work helped document and protect hundreds of burial sites in Worcester and Wicomico counties.
A Lower Shore Life
James Russell Trader was born in Berlin, Maryland, in 1931. He graduated from Washington College in 1952 with a degree in history and political science. In 1954 he became director of the Environmental Health Program in Worcester County, beginning a long professional career connected with public and environmental health on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
His Worcester roots and his interest in local history became part of a much larger commitment to cemetery documentation and preservation.
Documenting and Protecting Cemeteries
Jim joined the Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites in 1993. He later served the Coalition as president and legislative chairman, working not only to record burial grounds but also to strengthen their legal protection and call attention to threatened or neglected cemeteries.
Public memorial accounts credit him with documenting approximately 220 cemeteries in Worcester County and 550 in Wicomico County. His work preserved location information and documentation for many burial sites that might otherwise have become difficult to identify or completely lost.
A Continuing Legacy
The Worcester cemetery pages presented here are part of the same larger effort Jim championed: identify burial sites, record what survives, preserve the information, and make it available to the people who come after us.
His commitment continues through the Trader Foundation for Maryland Burial Sites, established from a bequest in his will to support the preservation of endangered historic cemeteries, and through the ongoing work of the Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites.
Biographical details on this page are summarized from public memorial material, the Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites, and the Trader Foundation for Maryland Burial Sites.