Title Hidden history : African American cemeteries in central Virginia / Lynn Rainville

Published Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2014 ©2014

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Description 1 online resource (xviii, 194 pages) : illustrations, maps Contents Finding zion -- Locating and recording the dead -- The accidental museum : gravestone designs -- Slave cemeteries and mortuary rituals -- The network of death : funerals, churches, and burial -- Societies -- Lost communities of the dead -- Gravestone genealogies -- Connecting communities through their burial grounds -- Commemorating and preserving historic black cemeteries -- Cemeteries as classrooms : teaching social history with gravestones -- Appendix: Gravestone recording forms Summary "In Hidden History, Lynn Rainville travels through the forgotten African American cemeteries of central Virginia to recover information crucial to the stories of the black families who lived and worked there for over two hundred years. The subjects of Rainville's research are not statesmen or plantation elites; they are hidden residents, people who are typically underrepresented in historical research but whose stories are essential for a complete understanding of our national past. Rainville studied above-ground funerary remains in over 150 historic African American cemeteries to provide an overview of mortuary and funerary practices from the late eighteenth century to the end of the twentieth. Combining historical, anthropological, and archaeological perspectives, she analyzes documents--such as wills, obituaries, and letters--as well as gravestones and graveside offerings. Rainville's findings shed light on family genealogies, the rise and fall of segregation, and attitudes toward religion and death. As many of these cemeteries are either endangered or already destroyed, the book includes a discussion on the challenges of preservation and how the reader may visit, and help preserve, these valuable cultural assets."--Publisher's Web site Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 179-185) and index Notes Print version record Subject African American cemeteries -- Virginia -- Albemarle County -- History African American cemeteries -- Virginia -- Amherst County -- History African Americans -- Funeral customs and rites -- Virginia -- Albemarle County -- History African Americans -- Funeral customs and rites -- Virginia -- Amherst County -- History SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Death & Dying. HISTORY -- United States -- State & Local -- South (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV) African American cemeteries African Americans -- Funeral customs and rites Virginia -- Albemarle County Virginia -- Amherst County Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 1306396697 9781306396691 9780813935355 0813935350

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