Tomb With A View: A Cemetery Podcast

On one hill, in one cemetery, in a small town in Massachusetts are buried several American literary giants. The cemetery, Sleepy Hollow, in Concord, MA is in many ways a manifestation of the ideology that they popularized and launched a movement to conserve land. Email: tombwithaviewpodcast@gmail.com Facebook Instagram

Did your college or university have a cemetery on campus? A surprising amount of schools do. They exist of a number of reasons (well just one actually, but there's plenty of different stories).  Celebrate back to school in the best way possible...cemeteries! Email: tombwithaviewpodcast@gmail.com Facebook Instagram

Zinkies, or white bronze headstones are a perennial favorite of all taphophiles. Today we explore their origin, manufacturing, preservation, and discussed how the company that made them revolutionized sales techniques. Email: tombwithaviewpodcast@gmail.com Facebook Instagram 

The rural cemetery movement coincided with an intellectual fascination with past cultures. These elements of society combined to create a century of architectural distinction in American cemeteries. Email: tombwithaviewpodcast@gmail.com Facebook Instagram

Cemetery Symbolism is often the hook that lures people into the cemetery world. What is it? What does it mean? Symbols and how they are interpreted is a complicated and much debated topic in art history. Email: Tombwithaviewpodcast@gmail.com Facebook Instagram

Radiation can both help and harm, from the atomic bomb to life saving cancer treatment the way that radioactive elements and isotopes impact the human body was little understood until the mid-20th century. The answers came from cemeteries, where scientists looked to corpses that had died of exposure to radiation to study the phenomenon, and better understand how to harness it's power in the f...

The United States largest cemetery is a Catholic cemetery. One of it's most intact mortuary archaeological sites is a Catholic cemetery. Yet despite this, little has been written about Catholic cemeteries themselves, how they are founded, how the y should be run, or how they are designed. Catholic cemeteries are all about one thing... and they do it well. Volume. Email: tombwithaviewpodcast@i...

Between 1895 and 1945 San Francisco not only outlawed burial within city limits, but within the entire county. Following that, a fast-growing western port town hungry for land rallied for the removal of the thirteen major cemeteries. Meanwhile, to the south a quiet farming community, less than two square miles was slowly transforming into something extraordinary, America's first true necropol...

The discovery of KV62, or the tomb of King Tut was one of the most significant archaeological finds in history. 100 years ago, Howard Carter, the son of an illustrator and self-taught Egyptologist under the patronage of Lord Carnovan, first glimpsed the undiscovered tomb. In the wake of his discovery, a new wave of Egyptomania would sweep the world, and no where was this more evident than in cemet...

For roughly a century in isolated corners of New England the remains of those who died of consumption were exhumed and their remains used as a folk remedy for their relatives, who the population believed were being slowly drained of life by their dead relations. Were these individuals really vampires? Today I examine these fascinating cases and examine the history of this bizarre tradition. tombwi...

Death culture historically has been family and tradition-centric, for this reason the LGBTQ+ community often has felt alienated by traditional mourning rituals, and as a result has formed their own diverse traditions, which are often protests of the injustices they faced in life. The fascinating and unique death culture that has emerged is a diverse and vibrant as the LGBTQ+ community itself. tomb...

What are the biggest challenges that historic cemeteries face when it comes to the issue of preservation? No answers this week, just putting a name on the things that stand in the way of successful preservation. tombwithaviewpodcast@gmail.com Facebook Instagram

The painstaking restoration of the women's comfort station at Oakland cemetery illustrates many of the challenges... and rewards of the field of preservation. Presented by Ashley Shares, Director of Preservation, at the 2019 Georgia Municipal Cemeteries Conference, this presentation addresses both the fundraising, planning, and execution of a major cemetery preservation project. Facebook Inst...

In 1917 the design and marketing of American cemeteries would again change, as one man, a former chemist and miner, Hubert Eaton had a vision of a cemetery that was about life, not death. Eaton's unique marketing of the "memorial park" would eliminate gravestones, paint a glowing new-age Christian picture of death as a glorious resurrection, and most importantly monetize burial in w...

For the past ten years Samuel Beetler II has overseen the preservation of the monuments in Savannah's five municipal cemeteries. Recently promoted to director of cemeteries he shares his thoughts on the importance of conservation, balancing burial versus tourism, and many other vital topics to cemeteries today. Facebook Instagram City of Savannah Cemeteries: Instagram

on August 6, 1938 Charles Addams published the first cartoon featuring an unusual, macabre family that would become colloquially known by his name. Though they only represent a small part of his prolific career as cartoonist, they have become an enduring part of American culture to this day. The origins of the Addams family lies in the small colonial town of Westfield, NJ, where Addams spent his y...

Why do a podcast about cemeteries? Why am I the one doing a podcast about cemeteries? In the first episode I tell the story of how I became interested in cemeteries and became a member of the cemetery community, and why I thought we all needed a podcast about them. tombwithaviewpodcast@gmail.com Facebook Instagram

Today we explore how the earliest settlers developed their burial grounds, adapting their practices from both their European roots, and their religious beliefs... and why neither was a great model for long-term success. tombwithaviewpodcast@gmail.com Facebook Instagram

How did the 19th century change the way that people lived in America, exploring the social, political, industrial, philosophical, and religious changes that swept America in the first half of the 19th century and how they forged a new, completely unique, American model for cemeteries (including the use of the word cemetery!). tombwithaviewpodcast@gmail.com Facebook Instagram 

What was it about Mount Auburn that so captured the American imagination, and started the trend of cemetery tourism and spawned dozens of replica rural cemeteries across America? What were some of the criticisms? tombwithaviewpodcast@gmail.com Facebook Instagram

Everyone knows A Christmas Carol...Why were the Victorians so obsessed with telling ghost stories at Christmas? And why did the tradition never really catch on in the United States? Facebook Instagram

What happens when you can't just let go... In a nice bookend to the story of the wandering case of the corpse of Eva Peron, we travel to Key West for the story of a fake doctor, stolen corpse, and a tale almost too weird to be true. tombwithaviewpodcast@gmail.com Facebook Instagram

40 years has passed since the controversial design of a young Yale architecture student was unveiled on the National Mall. The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial was as controversial as the war which necessitated it, but ultimately has lead to incredible healing and an evolution in how we design memorials. 

What is the value of a body once it stops living? The messy political landscape of Argentina wondered that for almost 20 years following the death of its enigmatic First Lady Eva Peron, as they preserved and hid her remains. Email: tombwithaviewpodcast@gmail.com Facebook Instagram

It's Tomb with a View's Third Anniversary, and I openwd up the airwaves for questions! Email: tombwithaviewpodcast@gmail.com Facebook Instagram