Forgotten and Remembered: Unusual Memorial Practices at Buffalo’s Old Cemeteries

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Burial, Space, and Memory of Unusual Death" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Several cemeteries were established during the 19th century at Buffalo, NY. Today many of these cemeteries do not exist. Throughout decades human remains have been revealed by construction work, but about 1200 burials and memorial stones from different cemeteries were moved to new Forest Lawn cemetery after its establishment in 1850. These memorials let us consider why it was important for the relatives to remove their recently died deceased (less than 20 years ago). Some pauper burials were laid still, even though public opinion for removals in Buffalo was favorable. In addition to socioeconomic status, young age could also lead to unusual burial customs at Buffalo. At Forest Lawn, children’s memorials are predominantly different from those of adults. Children’s untimely death was most commonly remembered through simple small memorials or sculptural memorials of sheep, but unusual sculptural memorials exist as well, such as life-sized child statues or pets.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2019   •
• Burial, Space, and Memory of Unusual Death

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 279