African American Historic Burial Grounds And Gravesites Of New England

Evidence of the early history of African Americans in New England is found in the many old cemeteries and burial grounds in the region, often in hidden or largely forgotten locations. This unique work covers the burial sites of African Americans--both enslaved and free--in each of the New England states, and uncovers how they came to their final resting places. The lives of well known early African Americans are discussed, including Venture Smith and Elizabeth Freeman, as well as the lives of many ordinary individuals--military veterans, business men and women, common laborers and children. The author's examination of burial sites and grave markers reveals clues that help document the lives of black New Englanders from the 1640s to the early 1900s.

While now known as America's summer playground, Newport was at one time the nation's fifth-largest seaport, containing a diverse population that is reflected in its burial sites. Of special significance is the largest marked site for eighteenth-century African Americans in the country, as well as the oldest surviving colonial Jewish burial site. Notable burials include those for William Ellery, who signed the Declaration of Independence, and Richard Morris Hunt, the eminent nineteenth-century architect. It is also home to John Stevens, a noted gravestone carver who led six generations of his family to create exquisite stones throughout the city. Those same traditions are carried on today by the Benson family, America's premier stone carvers. Join local author and tour guide Lewis Keen as he explores the fascinating history behind the city's early burial grounds.

Whether it's for their solace and beauty or for the sense of history that seeps from the ground, cemeteries are fascinating places to visit, this guide shows where to find the most interesting and unusual ones in all of New England. Some have headstones that are fine art, others are associated with notorious events, and others are the final resting place of famous poets, soldiers, and statesmen. Included are large public facilities as well as the small family burying grounds hidden away behind crumbling stone walls and along once-cultivated farmland. A sampling of cemeteries profiled: *Hope Cemetery in Barre, Vermont, where lifelike sculptures of angels and Greek goddesses stand next to a stone soccer ball and Shell Oil truck gravemarker, all elaborately carved from local granite by immigrant Italian stonecutters. *Spider Gates Cemetery, in Leicester, Massachusetts, a notorious Quaker burying ground famed for its frequent ghost sightings and still in use today. *A cemetery situated on the raised median of the Interstate in Warner, New Hampshire,which was preserved in 1970 by highway planners, who constructed the roadway around it. *Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven, Vermont, final resting place of Timothy Clark Smith, whose 1893 crypt includes a window to help him escape in case he was buried alive. Driving directions are provided for each cemetery, and detailed maps show the location of the more obscure graveyards. This unique guide offers an intriguing way to learn about the history and culture of New England.

An illustrated cultural history of America through the lens of its gravestones and burial practices—featuring eighty black-and-white photographs. In The American Resting Place, cultural historian Marilyn Yalom and her son, photographer Reid Yalom, visit more than 250 cemeteries across the United States. Following a coast-to-coast trajectory that mirrors the historical pattern of American migration, their destinations highlight America’s cultural and ethnic diversity as well as the evolution of burials rites over the centuries. Yalom’s incisive reading of gravestone inscriptions reveals changing ideas about death and personal identity, as well as how class and gender play out in stone. Rich particulars include the story of one seventeenth-century Bostonian who amassed a thousand pairs of gloves in his funeral-going lifetime, the unique burial rites and funerary symbols found in today’s Native American cultures, and a “lost” Czech community brought uncannily to life in Chicago’s Bohemian National Columbarium. From fascinating past to startling future—DVDs embedded in tombstones, “green” burials, and “the new aesthetic of death”—The American Resting Place is the definitive history of the American cemetery.

Presents a history of cemeteries in the United States, from early burial grounds to the landcaped designs of the nineteenth century to alternative methods of burial designed for the twenty-first century.

Recounting the struggles of African-American people to maintain some vestige of their African-American heritage through funeral rites and ownership of their burial grounds, these compelling stories provide background information on cemeteries in the U.S. and Canada--how and when they were founded, who is buried there and the ongoing battle to maintain possession of them. 100 photos.

Culled from the records of the National Register of Historic Places, a roster of all types of significant properties across the United States, African American Historic Places includes over 800 places in 42 states and two U.S. territories that have played a role in black American history. Banks, cemeteries, clubs, colleges, forts, homes, hospitals, schools, and shops are but a few of the types of sites explored in this volume, which is an invaluable reference guide for researchers, historians, preservationists, and anyone interested in African American culture. Also included are eight insightful essays on the African American experience, from migration to the role of women, from the Harlem Renaissance to the Civil Rights Movement. The authors represent academia, museums, historic preservation, and politics, and utilize the listed properties to vividly illustrate the role of communities and women, the forces of migration, the influence of the arts and heritage preservation, and the struggles for freedom and civil rights. Together they lead to a better understanding of the contributions of African Americans to American history. They illustrate the events and people, the designs and achievements that define African American history. And they pay powerful tribute to the spirit of black America.