Purified by Fire : A History of Cremation in America

Just one hundred years ago, Americans almost universally condemned cremation. Today, nearly one-quarter of Americans choose to be cremated. The practice has gained wide acceptance as a funeral rite, in both our private and public lives, as the cremations of icons such as John Lennon and John F. Kennedy Jr. show. Purified by Fire tells the fascinating story of cremation's rise from notoriety to legitimacy and takes a provocative new look at important transformations in the American cultural landscape over the last 150 years. Stephen Prothero synthesizes a wide array of previously untapped source material, including newspapers, consumer guides, mortician trade journals, and popular magazines such as Reader's Digest to provide this first historical study of cremation in the United States. He vividly describes many noteworthy events-from the much-criticized first American cremation in 1876 to the death and cremation of Jerry Garcia in the late twentieth century. From the Gilded Age to the Progressive Era to the baby boomers of today, this book takes us on a tour through American culture and traces our changing attitudes toward death, religion, public health, the body, and the environment. 20 b/w photographs, 2 line illustrations, 2 tables

"Readers of Purified by Fire will find themselves enthralled by their own history and left pondering the disposition of their own remains. Prothero has crafted a thoroughly admirable book, a model for writing cultural history on religiously significant topics. The scholarship is exemplary. Prothero is accurate, critical, anlaytical, and all the while, he tells a good story." —Ronald L. Grimes, author of Reading in Ritual Studies (1996) and Deeply into the Bone: Re-
Inventing Rites of Passage (2000)

"
In Purified by Fire Stephen Prothero deals with the history of cremation in a superbly innovative and sophisticated way. His training in American religious history and the history of religion shines through, and his ability to situate debates over cremation in the larger social and cultural ecology makes the arguments even more compelling for the reader. The scholarship here is superior."—Gary Laderman, author of The Sacred Remains: American Attitudes Toward Death, 1799-1883 (1990)

Christian Science Monitor

Offers an engrossing look at a largely ignored subject. While it's an academic approach, Prothero's style is energetic and lively. As a historian, he is thorough and conscientious. As a writer, he spins a good yarn. Which seems like the right way to treat this deathly subject.

Preliminaries......Page 1 Contents......Page 9 List of Illustrations......Page 11 Acknowledgments......Page 13 Introduction......Page 15 1. The Cremation of Baron De Palm......Page 29 2. Sanitary Reform......Page 60 3. Resurrection and the Resurrectionists......Page 81 4. The Business of Cremation......Page 135 5. The Memorial Idea......Page 157 6. Consumers’ Last Rites......Page 193 7. Contemporary Ways of Cremation......Page 218 Timeline......Page 243 Abbreviations......Page 249 Notes......Page 251 Selected Bibliography......Page 283 Index......Page 293 Publisher Fact Sheet A History Of Cremation In America. The Cremation Of Baron De Palm -- Sanitary Reform -- Resurrection And The Resurrectionists -- The Business Of Cremation -- The Memorial Idea -- Consumers' Last Rites -- Contemporary Ways Of Cremation. Stephen Prothero. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 253-261) And Index. This work synthesizes various source materials including newspapers, mortician trade journals, and popular magazines, to offer a historical study of cremation in the United States. The changing view of cremation from a universally condemned practice, to accepted necessity is examined. ON DECEMBER 6, 1876, IN THE SMALL town of Washington, Pennsylvania, the corpse of Baron Joseph Henry Louis Charles De Palm went up in the flames in an event billed as the first cremation in modern America.