Purified by Fire
A History of Cremation in America
Berkeley : University of California Press, [2001]
Format: Book
Description: xiv, 266 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Just one hundred years ago, Americans almost universally condemned cremation. Today, nearly one-quarter of Americans choose to be cremated. The practice has gained wide acceptance as a funeral rite, in both our private and public lives, as the cremations of icons such as John Lennon and John F. Kennedy Jr. show. Purified by Fire tells the fascinating story of cremation's rise from notoriety to legitimacy and takes a provocative new look at important transformations in the American cultural landscape over the last 150 years.
Stephen Prothero synthesizes a wide array of previously untapped source material, including newspapers, consumer guides, mortician trade journals, and popular magazines such as Reader's Digest to provide this first historical study of cremation in the United States. He vividly describes many noteworthy events--from the much-criticized first American cremation in 1876 to the death and cremation of Jerry Garcia in the late twentieth century. From the Gilded Age to the Progressive Era to the baby boomers of today, this book takes us on a tour through American culture and traces our changing attitudes toward death, religion, public health, the body, and the environment.
Stephen Prothero synthesizes a wide array of previously untapped source material, including newspapers, consumer guides, mortician trade journals, and popular magazines such as Reader's Digest to provide this first historical study of cremation in the United States. He vividly describes many noteworthy events--from the much-criticized first American cremation in 1876 to the death and cremation of Jerry Garcia in the late twentieth century. From the Gilded Age to the Progressive Era to the baby boomers of today, this book takes us on a tour through American culture and traces our changing attitudes toward death, religion, public health, the body, and the environment.
Contents:
The cremation of Baron De Palm -- Sanitary reform -- Resurrection and the resurrectionists -- The business of cremation -- The memorial idea -- Consumers' last rites -- Contemporary ways of cremation.
Subjects:
Cremation -- United States -- History.
Cremation -- United States -- Public opinion.
Funeral rites and ceremonies -- United States -- History.
Public opinion -- United States.
United States -- Social life and customs.
Cremation -- United States -- History.
Cremation -- United States -- Public opinion.
Funeral rites and ceremonies -- United States -- History.
Public opinion -- United States.
United States -- Social life and customs.
Target Audience: 1340L
ISBN:
0520208161 (cloth : alk. paper)
Availability | |||
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Call Number | Location | Shelf Location | Status |
SOCIAL SCI Cultures American Pro | Main (Downtown) | Third Level, Nonfiction | In |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-261) and index.