Gone to the Grave: Burial Customs of the Arkansas Ozarks, 1850-1950

A RICH SURVEY OF FOLK PRACTICES PRIOR TO MORTUARIES AND THE FUNERAL INDUSTRY Before there was a death care industry where professional funeral directors offered embalming and other services, residents of the Arkansas Ozarks--and, for that matter, people throughout the South--buried their own dead. Every part of the complicated, labor-intensive process was handled within the deceased's community. This process included preparation of the body for burial, making a wooden coffin, digging the grave, and overseeing the burial ceremony, as well as observing a wide variety of customs and superstitions. These traditions, especially in rural communities, remained the norm up through the end of World War II, after which a variety of factors, primarily the loss of manpower and the rise of the funeral industry, brought about the end of most customs. Gone to the Grave, a meticulous autopsy of this now vanished way of life and death, documents mourning and practical rituals through interviews, diaries and reminiscences, obituaries, and a wide variety of other sources. Abby Burnett covers attempts to stave off death; passings that, for various reasons, could not be mourned according to tradition; factors contributing to high maternal and infant mortality; and the ways in which loss was expressed through obituaries and epitaphs. A concluding chapter examines early undertaking practices and the many angles funeral industry professionals worked to convince the public of the need for their services. Abby Burnett, Kingston, Arkansas, is a former freelance newspaper reporter. She is the author of When the Presbyterians Came to Kingston: Kingston Community Church, 1917-1951.

Author: Abby Burnett
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Published: 03/13/2015
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.11lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.77d
ISBN13: 9781496804600
ISBN10: 1496804600
BISAC Categories:
- Social Science | Folklore & Mythology
- Social Science | Death & Dying
- History | United States | State & Local | South (AL,AR,FL,GA,KY,LA,MS,

About the Author
Abby Burnett is a former freelance newspaper reporter. She is author of When the Presbyterians Came to Kingston: Kingston Community Church 1917-1951.