Purified by Fire: A History of Cremation in AmericaJust 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. |
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Purified by fire: a history of cremation in America
User Review - Not Available - Book VerdictAs Prothero (religion, Boston Univ.) states in the introduction, "what Americans usually do is bury." In this outstanding work, he delves deeply into a subject that is often avoided: death and, most ... Read full review
Contents
| 15 | |
Sanitary Reform | 46 |
Resurrection and the Resurrectionists | 67 |
BRICKS AND MORTAR 18961963 | 103 |
The Business of Cremation | 105 |
The Memorial Idea | 127 |
BOOM 1963PRESENT | 161 |
Consumers Last Rites | 163 |
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Common terms and phrases
According alternative American ancient argued arguments ashes Association August Baron become began belief body Boston burial buried called casket Catholic cause cemetery century Christian Church City claimed coffin columbarium consumer corpse cremation cremation movement Cremation Society cremationists crematory critics culture dead death December direct Disposal early earth effort embalming fact February fire followed funeral directors furnace Gilded Age grave ground hand Henry History human immigrants immortality included Italy John July June later least less light living March mation matter Medical memorial method Mitford movement nature nineteenth noted November October Olcott operators percent period person Philadelphia popular practice published quoted reform religion religious remains reported resurrection rites ritual sanitary scattering social Society soul spiritual Study tion traditional Tribune turn undertakers United University Press Washington World wrote York
Popular passages
Page 11 - What we find, instead, is an untidy but characteristic unevenness of development. What is important are the significant breaks — where old lines of thought are disrupted, older constellations displaced, and elements, old and new, are regrouped around a different set of premises and themes.
Page 18 - Could they suppose that it would be more impossible for God to raise up a body at the resurrection, if needs be. out of elementary particles which had been liberated by the burning, than it would be to raise-up a body from the dust, and from the bodies which had passed into the structure of worms?
Page 18 - Could they suppose that it would be more impossible for God to raise up a body at the resurrection, if needs be, out of elementary particles which had been liberated by the burning, than it would be to raise up a body from dust, and from the elements of bodies which. had passed into the structure of worms ? The omnipotence of God is not limited, and He would raise the dead whether He had to raise our bodies out of churchyards, or whether He had to call our remains, like the remains of some ancient...
Bibliographic information
| Title | Purified by Fire: A History of Cremation in America |
| Author | Stephen Prothero |
| Publisher | University of California Press, 2001 |
| ISBN | 0520929748, 9780520929746 |
| Length | 280 pages |
| Subjects | › › History / United States / General Religion / Comparative Religion |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |