A Rabbit's Review 1/5/2012

A Rabbit's Review

By LisaMary Wichowski

Digging Up the Dead: A History of Notable American Reburials

Michael Kammen

Hardcover: 272 pages

University Of Chicago Press (May 1, 2010)

ISBN-13: 978-0226423296

Rest in Peace?  Apparently not for many of the dearly departed.  Michael Kammen’s book Digging up the Dead demonstrates just how fungible the “final” resting places can be. Although reburial is not exclusively an American phenomenon, indeed the relics of medieval Christians are a direct forerunner of the practice, Kammen focuses on the politics and commodification of particular dead individuals as a way illustrating the commercialization of death itself.

Kammen surveys how local pride, fluidity of remembrance and instability of reputation interact in the competition over remains such as for Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis and Sitting Bull.   Each of these reburials shows that what remains has become a mere object where the wishes of the former individual, preferences of the family, and needs of the community are weighed and balanced, and in some cases only to be weighed, balanced again for a further move.

Digging Up The Dead relates how Edgar Allan Poe, ironically enough, was subjected to repeated disruption.  From his death in 1849 he lay unmarked in his wife’s family’s plot until 1873 when a fellow poet, dismayed by the untended grave, published an essay about it that received international attention.  A monument was funded and readied for the back of the churchyard where Poe lay.  The monument was so large, however, that a foundation needed to be built in a way that required Poe’s bones be moved.  Initially the remains were re-interred in the grave of his mother in law, which would also be located under the new memorial.  During the planning stages for the re-interment, the committee in charge decided that the monument should be located in a more accessible spot in the graveyard.  This required approval from the descendants of the original owners of the grave.  In 1875 the monument, Poe’s remains and those of his mother-in-law were all moved with much pageantry to a new, more prominent resting place nearer the front of the same graveyard.  This was not the end of the disruptions of Poe’s eternal rest, however.  In 1883 Poe’s wife’s remains were apparently rescued from a cemetery that was being razed, so in 1885 Poe’s tomb was once again opened to receive the remains of his much beloved spouse.  

Poe’s journey helps to illustrate just how the garden cemetery movement was dependent on celebrity for tourism and for marketing purposes.  The founders of Laurel Hill in Philadelphia expressed “eagerness” to have “historically important” people buried there.  More recently, the heirs and executors of the will of artist Mark Rothko battled over a reburial plan.  Many in the community of the original burial were quite unhappy to see him leave, because as one member of the local cemetery association said, "He's our only notable person."

Unfortunately, it is not only commercial enterprises that are interested in using the famous dead to drive tourism.  Entire communities may battle with families for the right to possess and exploit remains in such cases as Jesse James or Daniel Boone.  Kammen’s analysis of this phenomenon heightens our understanding of how public access to bodies can become highly charged, whatever the original motivation for reburial.  The bodies themselves become mere hostages in the battle over who gets responsibility for the final crafting of the deceased’s legacy.

            That responsibility may be what interests many taphophiles.  There are current debates concerning cemeteries’ appearances, whether it is the painted tomb controversy in Louisiana, the aesthetics of lawn cemeteries, or the level and type decorations for holidays on individual plots.  This well researched, engaging book may not answer all of those questions,  but, it will contribute to the discussions of who owns the dead, their memories and their mythos in a fruitful and interesting way.