Chapter 14- Cemetery/Mausoleum- Management Flashcards
Throughout history, this has been the focal point so society’s grief, ceremony, and memorialization.
- A place where dead a treated with reverence while providing the living with an acceptable environment to express their emotions and memorialize their loved ones.
- Many of the societal factors that have influenced the changes in funeral homes have also influenced the changes in these.
Cemeteries
The only two places many people feel are appropriate for expressing their emotions.
- Crying, talking to the deceased, or just sitting and standing silently for as long as you like are acceptable behaviors.
- people know these are for that purpose
- It is not embarrassing to let other people see them
- Natural and accepted
Cemetery and Funeral Home
People want to be remembered after they die.
- Limited number of ways to do this
- Easiest way is with a cemetery monument of some sort
- The grave, niche, or mausoleum with a person’s name on it makes a statement for all to see.
Immortality
From the Greek word meaning “sleeping place”, this is an area of ground set aside and dedicated for the final disposition of dead human bodies or cremated remains.
Cemetery Definition
- The churchyard cemetery
- The garden cemetery
- The memorial park
The evolution of the cemetery can be traced by three occurrences:
One of the most significant influences on American cemeteries was the transition from a rural, agrarian society to a more urban, “community” based society. Rural folk along with immigrants froom Europe were flooding US urban areas. One of the first structures built in town was a church. The church grew to serve as a focal point of worship and community affairs in the town.
- People decided that it was the most appropriate place to bury the dead so that they would be close to God
- Europeans familiar with this practice
- Wooden floor lifted and person was buried inside the church
- Deceased’s station in life determined where in the church they were buried (the more prominent and prosperous individuals were buried close to the altar).
- As space became limited, burials moved outside
- Established memorialization norms that are still used today
- Utilized the first slab “tomb stone”- included the name of the deceased, date of birth and death, and a favorite passage or scripture.
The Churchyard/Urban Cemetery
Urban growth came with a rapid concern over the sanitation conditions that were deteriorating in the Northeastern towns and cities in the early 1800’s.
- Choera, yellow feaver, typhoid, diptheria, small pox, and other infectious diseases plagued the U.S,
- Some people blamed the immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and Italy
- Others blamed miasma
- Sewage, garbage collecting, street cleaning and the decomposing underground corpse
- Public health officials in New York: “the interment of dead bodies within the city ought to be prohibited.”- warnings were ignored, urban cemeteries still overcrowded.
- New York lost 16,000 citizens from yellow fever, Boston and Philadelphia were also affected by the epidemics.
- Boston City Council called “for the immediate terminition of inter-city burials, as well as the exhumation of all crammed or shallow-buried corpses.”
The Garden Cemetery- Environmental Concerns that led to them
Considered the first American suburban cemetery.
- Designed not only to “quarantine” the dead from the living, but also as a place to celebrate life and eternal life.
- Designed to resemble the rambling gardens of the English estate.
- Picturesque and peaceful, where man walks in tranquility and harmony with God (McRae).
- The answer to America’s burial and death care problems
- For the first time in its history, the death care industry was accepted and seen as a meaningful and beautiful part of social life. (McRae)
Created in 1831 in Cambridge Massachusetts- Mount Auburn Cemetery
(Garden Cemetery)
A cemetery or section of a cemetery with only flush to the ground type markers.
- Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA founded by Hubert Eaton in 1917 was the first
- Eaton’s “memorial park plan” eliminated upright monuments. He envisioned Forest Lawn to be “a great park devoid of misshapen monuments and other signs of earthly death, but filled with towering trees, sweeping lawns, splashing fountains, beautiful statuary, and memorial architecture.”
- A place where happiness is recalled and sorrow forgotten (Van Beck)
- Profound impack on the cemetery industry in this country
- Eliminated the upright memorial and the aesthetic garden setting found with the garden cemetery.
- Time and labor of ground maintenance was greatly reduced
- In 1942, Dr. Eaton combined the funeral home with the memorial park (Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuary).
The Memorial Park
- One of the most dramatic changes in cemetery design
- Ensures that the burial site remains as natural and simple as possible in all respects
- Interment is done with a biodegradable casket, shroud, or a favorite blanket.
- Designed to let nature take its course
- Earth friendly option when considering burial vs. cremation
- No embalming fluids, no expensive caskets or outer burial containers
- Common among US pioneers (when a casket was not available the person was buried directly in the ground) but not common in the US today.
- More popular in Britian
- 215 burial sites in Britian, more planned
Green Cemeteries
- Section
- Block
- Lot
- Grave
Cemetery Terms
A subdivision of a cemetery containing several blocks.
Section
A subdivision of a cemetery containing several lots; these make up sections.
Block
A subdivision of a cemetery containing several graves or interment spaces; these make up blocks.
Lot
An excavation in the earth as a place for interment.
Grave
Memorializing the dead is one of mankind’s oldest traidtions. It is a powerful and meaningful way of expressing our love and honor for those who have touched our lives. There are many ways to memorialize someone. It is imperative that we have a basic understanding of the design, craftmanship and artistry that goes into a memorial (helps us and the families we serve):
- Monuments
- Markers
- Memorial
Monuments and Markers
A structure, usually of stone or metal, erected to commemorate the life, deeds, or career of a deceased person; from the Latin word meaning to remind.
Monument
A small headstone, usually one piece, used to identify individual graves.
Marker
A physical object that is designed for the purpose of remembering.
Memorial
- Upright marker/monument
- Die (Tablet)
- Base
- Slant Marker
- Flat Marker
- Bench Memorial
- Bronze Marker
Types of Markers (Monuments)
This is the most common form of memorialization used today. This consists of 2 pieces. The top piece is much larger and is called a “tablet” or die. The bottom piece is known as a “base.”
Upright Marker/Monument
The main part of a monument, the upright portion above the base where the inscription is located.
Die (Tablet)
The lower or supporting part of the monument.
Base
This typically stands 16” to 18” in height with the front slanting or sloping back at a 45 degree angle.
Slant Marker
- Serpentine
- Oval
- Straight
Memorial Design (Tops)
