Cemeteries and Gravemarkers: Voices of American Culture [Paperback]

Richard Meyer (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1992

Cemeteries house the dead, but gravemarkers are fashioned by the living, who record on them not only their pleasures, sorrows, and hopes for an afterlife, but also more than they realize of their history, ethnicity, and culture. Richard Meyer has gathered twelve original essays examining burial grounds through the centuries and across the land to give a broad understanding of the history and cultural values of communities, regions, and American society at large.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[Cemeteries and Gravemarkers] makes it clear that the dead have by no means exhausted their potential to enlighten--and, at times, chasten--the living. In fact, the singular strength of [this book] is the opportunity it has provided for new voices to be heard -- Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 1990

From the Publisher

This product is not a traditionally bound book. Many ProQuest UMI products are black-and-white reproductions of original publications produced through the Books On Demand ® program. Alternately, this product may be a photocopy of a dissertation or it may be a collection reproduced on microfiche or microfilm if it is intended for library purchase. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 347 pages
• Publisher: Utah State University Press; 1 edition (November 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874211603
• ISBN-13: 978-0874211603
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #834,970 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cemeteries Reveal Stories About our Cultural Heritage, December 9, 2000

By 

Heather McKillop (Louisiana State University) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cemeteries and Gravemarkers: Voices of American Culture (Paperback)

Cemeteries and Gravemarkers is the leading book on interpreting culture from cemeteries. The edited volume includes research by geographers, art historians, historians, folklorists, and anthropologists on various aspects of cemeteries and their gravestones in the United States. The volume encompasses the diversity of approaches to cemetery research from various disciplines, focusing on the cultural information to be obtained. The book is quite readable for the interested member of the public, but also suitable as a text for a university or college course and is a principal scholarly reference for researchers. The book is divided into four sections, including "Icon and Epitaph," "Origins and Influences," "Ethnicity and Regionalism," and "Business and Pleasure." In the first section we learn of the meaning of the icons or motifs on the gravestones of children, loggers in the Northwest, and other insightful discussions of imagery. For example, while it is common knowledge that lambs are a typical motif used for children's gravestones, an article by Ellen Synder provides an in-depth discussion with excellent illustrations of various images used in childrens' gravestones. In the second section, "Origins and Influences," we learn of the unusual folk traditions of cemeteries in the South by Gregory Jeane, as well as the splendid monuments in New Orleans cemeteries, in an informative article by Peggy McDowell. Perhaps the most important part of the book for anthropologists is section three, "Ethnicity and Regionalism." Here we have four articles that provide information on the diversity of cemeteries used by enslaved Africans, Native Americans, Mexican-Americans, and Anglo-Americans. These articles provide a solid basis for interpretations of culture from cemeteries. In the last part of the book, "Business and Pleasure," we are treated to an excellent summary of the growth of the "rural or garden cemetery movement" in the nineteenth century, with its elaborate gravestones and picturesque cemeteries. The editor, Richard Meyer, is to be commended for compiling such as diverse group of scholars for a conference that resulted in the present book. The book is well referenced, with excellent illustrations, and many insights to be found.

4 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Super Reference Book! Highly Recommended!, March 12, 2006

By 

Tombwhisperz (Erie Western NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cemeteries and Gravemarkers: Voices of American Culture (Paperback)

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Genealogy~ Practice of confusing the dead & irritating the living.
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