At first glance, 19th century Americans seemed to have excessively mourned their dead and surrounded themselves with a culture of death. Over the past few decades, scholars have debated why this was the case and have reached the following conclusions: changes in religious beliefs regarding an afterlife, advancements in science and technology, the very pervasiveness of death, and as continued life for the deceased, albeit in an altered state. While each of these arguments are completely valid, the later answer offers a more complete explanation. In his study of Justice Joseph Story's personal letters, scholar S. M. Silverman noticed the 19th century man methodically dealt with his grief over the deaths of his loved ones by giving "significance to the death by providing for a new or continuing life" (410). It is with this point that Silverman offers an extremely plausible explanation for why 19th century Americans immersed themselves in a culture of death and one that even today's modern society can not only understand, but relate to, as well. By erecting sacred spaces such as cemeteries, creating a plethora of consolation literature and poetry, constructing mourning jewelry, and etching words of remembrance on headstones, mourners breathed life in to the dead. Their loved ones may not have been present in the flesh, but they lived on through memory and the objects that evoked their existence. With this in mind, let us now consider the burial practices of the 19th century. (see Edwin Dethlefsen and James Deetz, Richard Betterly, David Sloane, Lewis Saum and S. M. Silverman in the Further Reading section for more information).
Before the 19th century, Americans mostly buried their dead in graveyards, within close proximity to churches, or dug graves in spots nearby where the person had died. By the 19th century, with only these options available, the lack of burial spaces in graveyards or in the crypts of churches within large cities had become an issue of immediate concern for residents. One answer to this concern was the creation of a new type of burial ground, which eventually gave way to the cemeteries we today are accustomed to; it was called a rural cemetery and Mount Auburn in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was the first of its kind. According to several scholars, the disposal of bodies and health concerns were not the only reason these cemeteries were created; rather, founders hoped that the cemeteries located in natural settings and abounding with sculptures and beauty would act as cultural custodians, historians, and preservationists of nature (see Stanley French, Blanche Linden, Harold Mytum, Dell Upton, Diane Jones, and Aaron Sachs in the Further Reading section for more information).
In the 19th century, people started to perceive death differently. They were more concerned with the death of their loved ones, than they were about their own. Headstones within cemeteries reflected this change. People started inscribing the words ‘sacred to the memory of’ and referring to the deceased as merely sleeping. Iconography appeared on headstones that alluded to immortality in one way or another. Epitaphs seemed to be directed at the mourners, appearing more consoling than commemorative (see Philipe Aries, Edwin Dethlefsen and James Deetz, Diana George and Malcolm Nelson, June Hobbs, Mike Huggins, Colleen McDannell, Elisabeth Roark, Deborah Smith, Ellen Snyder, and Michel Vovelle for further information).
Gravestones are very unique monuments of memory. While people contest certain monuments in society due to various political, social, and economical reasons, gravestones are rarely even noticed. They occupy two planes of existence: one above, one below; reality and fantasy; physical and mental; private yet public. It is a place where those who in the past that did not have voices can speak, but only if we examine the messages that they and their loved ones have left behind (see Mike Huggins, Aaron Sachs, and Elisabethada Wright for further information).
Before the 19th century, Americans mostly buried their dead in graveyards, within close proximity to churches, or dug graves in spots nearby where the person had died. By the 19th century, with only these options available, the lack of burial spaces in graveyards or in the crypts of churches within large cities had become an issue of immediate concern for residents. One answer to this concern was the creation of a new type of burial ground, which eventually gave way to the cemeteries we today are accustomed to; it was called a rural cemetery and Mount Auburn in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was the first of its kind. According to several scholars, the disposal of bodies and health concerns were not the only reason these cemeteries were created; rather, founders hoped that the cemeteries located in natural settings and abounding with sculptures and beauty would act as cultural custodians, historians, and preservationists of nature (see Stanley French, Blanche Linden, Harold Mytum, Dell Upton, Diane Jones, and Aaron Sachs in the Further Reading section for more information).
In the 19th century, people started to perceive death differently. They were more concerned with the death of their loved ones, than they were about their own. Headstones within cemeteries reflected this change. People started inscribing the words ‘sacred to the memory of’ and referring to the deceased as merely sleeping. Iconography appeared on headstones that alluded to immortality in one way or another. Epitaphs seemed to be directed at the mourners, appearing more consoling than commemorative (see Philipe Aries, Edwin Dethlefsen and James Deetz, Diana George and Malcolm Nelson, June Hobbs, Mike Huggins, Colleen McDannell, Elisabeth Roark, Deborah Smith, Ellen Snyder, and Michel Vovelle for further information).
Gravestones are very unique monuments of memory. While people contest certain monuments in society due to various political, social, and economical reasons, gravestones are rarely even noticed. They occupy two planes of existence: one above, one below; reality and fantasy; physical and mental; private yet public. It is a place where those who in the past that did not have voices can speak, but only if we examine the messages that they and their loved ones have left behind (see Mike Huggins, Aaron Sachs, and Elisabethada Wright for further information).