Gary Laderman
Autor(a) de Rest in Peace: A Cultural History of Death and the Funeral Home in Twentieth-Century America
About the Author
Gary Laderman received a B.A. in psychology from California State University, Northridge, and a M.A. and Ph.D. from the Religious Studies Department, University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a professor of American religious history and cultures at Emory University. His works include The mostrar mais Sacred Remains: American Attitudes Toward Death, 1799-1883; Rest in Peace: A Cultural History of Death and the Funeral Home in Twentieth-Century America; Religion and American Cultures: An Encyclopedia of Traditions, Diversity, and Popular Expressions; and Science, Religion, Societies: Histories, Cultures, Controversies. (Bowker Author Biography) mostrar menos
Obras de Gary Laderman
Rest in Peace: A Cultural History of Death and the Funeral Home in Twentieth-Century America (2003) 80 cópias
Sacred Matters: Celebrity Worship, Sexual Ecstasies, The Living Dead and Other Signs of Religious Life in the United… (2009) 23 cópias
Religion and American Cultures: An Encyclopedia of Traditions, Diversity, and Popular Expressions (2003) 17 cópias
Associated Works
Etiquetado
Conhecimento Comum
- Sexo
- male
- Ocupação
- religion professor
- Organizações
- Emory University
Membros
Resenhas
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Associated Authors
Estatísticas
- Obras
- 6
- Also by
- 1
- Membros
- 184
- Popularidade
- #117,736
- Avaliação
- 3.9
- Resenhas
- 3
- ISBNs
- 21
This all changed – as did so many other aspects of American life – with the Civil War. Parents wanted their sons sent home; given transport speed at the time this wasn’t practical unless something was done to prevent or slow down decay. Embalmers showed up as soon at the battle was over, set up tents, and went to work. It was an extremely lucrative process – one embalmer noted annual gross income of $80000, roughly $1.2M in modern purchasing power. The war also led to a change in attitude toward dissection; the Army created a medical museum and the first curator, Dr. John Brinton, wandered around the battlefields looking for interesting wounds. At one point he heard of an unusual bone, and was in the process of excavating the owner when his comrades showed up. Although initially hostile, Brinton was apparently eloquent in explaining the value of medical specimens; after a while the soldiers allowed that if he was able, the bone owner would cheerfully give it up, and it was duly done.
I once had something of a professional interesting in this sort of thing; it looked like a light rail line would be going through a cemetery that dated to the 1870s. The EPA had done some work on groundwater contamination – including drilling a monitoring well right through a coffin; I bet there was some consternation in the sampling crew when they opened the split spoon – and found elevated levels of arsenic and other heavy metals. Alas for my ghoulish anticipation; the line didn’t end up going there and I was no longer employed by the time it got to the general area.
Appropriate illustrations, an extensive reference list, and good end notes. About the only drawback is Laderman’s focus is exclusively Protestant attitudes.… (mais)