The American Resting Place

The American Resting Place examines cemeteries, burial grounds, and graveyards across the United States, documenting how Americans have commemorated their dead from colonial times to the present. Through photographs and historical research, this book tracks the evolution of American burial practices across regions, religions, and cultural groups. Author Marilyn Yalom traveled to hundreds of burial sites with her photographer son Reid, capturing both famous cemeteries and obscure family plots. The resulting chronicle includes Native American burial mounds, Puritan graveyards, African American cemeteries, Jewish sections, and modern memorial parks. The text reveals how grave markers and burial customs reflect the social, religious, and economic conditions of their times. Immigration patterns, epidemics, wars, and changing attitudes toward death have all shaped the ways Americans say goodbye to their loved ones. At its core, The American Resting Place demonstrates how burial grounds serve as mirrors of American society, revealing the nation's evolving values and beliefs about life, death, and remembrance. The book presents death customs as vital elements of cultural identity and community memory.

Readers appreciate the book's detailed historical research and photography of American cemeteries. Many note that Yalom makes a complex topic accessible while revealing cultural insights through burial practices. Comments highlight the balance between scholarly depth and engaging narrative style. Likes: - Documentation of unique regional customs - Reid Yalom's cemetery photographs - Clear explanations of changing burial trends - Personal stories behind individual graves Dislikes: - Focus skews toward East Coast/New England cemeteries - Some sections read like academic text - Limited coverage of Native American burial grounds - Index could be more comprehensive Ratings: Goodreads: 3.8/5 (127 ratings) Amazon: 4.3/5 (31 ratings) "A fascinating study of how Americans approach death," wrote one Amazon reviewer. Multiple Goodreads reviews mention using it as a reference for genealogy research. Some readers noted they expected more cultural analysis rather than historical documentation.

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🌿 Author Marilyn Yalom collaborated with her son Reid, who photographed more than 250 cemeteries across America while researching this book ⚜️ The book explores how burial customs changed when immigrants arrived, revealing how different cultures maintained their traditions even in death 🗿 Some of America's earliest graveyards were actually located under houses, with Colonial-era New Englanders burying their dead in cellars during harsh winters ✝️ The book documents how segregation persisted beyond death, with many cemeteries remaining racially separated well into the 20th century 🌳 Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, featured in the book, started the "rural cemetery movement" in 1831 and became a model for park-like cemeteries across America