Purified by fire : a history of cremation in America / Stephen Prothero.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Prothero, Stephen R., Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cremation--United States--History.

Cremation.

Cremation--United States--Public opinion.

Funeral rites and ceremonies--United States--History.

Funeral rites and ceremonies.

Public opinion--United States.

Public opinion.

United States--Social life and customs.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (298 p.)

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, CA : University of California Press, [2001]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part One. Birth 1874-1896

Part Two. Bricks and Mortar 1896-1963

Part Three. Boom 1963-Present

Timeline

Abbreviations

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 253-261) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9786612357046

9780520929746

0520929748

9781282357044

1282357042

9781597348416

1597348414

OCLC:

475928731