The politics of mourning : death and honor in Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery is America’s most sacred shrine, a destination for four million visitors who each year tour its grounds and honor those buried there. For many, Arlington’s symbolic importance places it beyond politics. Yet as Micki McElya shows, no site in the United States plays a more political role in shaping national identity. Arlington commemorates sacrifices made in the nation’s wars and armed conflicts. Yet it has always been a place of struggle over the boundaries of citizenship and the meaning of honor and love of country. A plantation built by slave labor overlooking Washington, D.C., Arlington was occupied by Union forces early in the Civil War. A portion was designated a federal cemetery in 1864. A camp for the formerly enslaved, Freedman’s Village, had already been established there in 1863, and remained for three decades. The cemetery was seen primarily as a memorial to the white Civil War dead until its most famous monument was erected in 1921: the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, symbolizing universal military sacrifice through the interment of a single World War I Unknown. As a century of wars abroad secured Arlington’s centrality in the American imagination and more Unknowns joined the first at the tomb, inclusion within its gates became a prerequisite for broader claims to national belonging. In revealing how Arlington encompasses the most inspiring and the most shameful aspects of American history, McElya enriches the story of this landscape, demonstrating that remembering the past and reckoning with it must go hand in hand. Arlington National Cemetery Holds A Distinctive Place In American Culture And Self-conception. An Active Cemetery That Averages Thirty Interments Every Weekday, It Receives Four Million Visitors Each Year Who Come To Pay Their Respects To Those Who Have Sacrificed Their Lives To Defend And Protect The Nation Through War And Peace. It Is A Sacred Shrine In The Popular Imagination, Hallowed Ground That Stands Not Only For Those Buried Within But Also For The Ideals For Which They Died And Which Continue To Require Honor And Respect From All American Citizens. As Perhaps The Most Critical Site Of Collective Mourning And Remembrance In The Country, Arlington Has Become An Icon Of American Patriotism And National Identity. Yet Despite Its Central Place In The Nation's Commemoration Of Its Past Heroes, Few Have Ventured Into The Actual History Of The Place To Show How It Has Evolved From Its Initial Establishment During The Civil War To Its Current Status. Micki Mcelya Delves Deeply Into The Historical Past To Get Beyond The Popular Narratives And Guides To This Favorite Tourist Destination That Is So Heavily Invested With National Honor And Reverence. In Doing So, She Gives Us The First Full History Of The Cemetery As A Physical Place That Has Been Shaped And Transformed By The Political And Cultural Aims And Circumstances Of Succeeding Generations.-- Keeper Of The Keys -- Freedman's Village -- A National Cemetery -- Bringing Home The Dead -- Out Of Many, One Unknown -- For Us, The Living -- Knowns And Unknowns. Micki Mcelya. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 315-371) And Index. An active cemetery that averages thirty interments every weekday, Arlington National Cemetery receives four million visitors each year who come to pay their respects to those who have sacrificed their lives to defend and protect the nation through war and peace. It is a sacred shrine in the popular imagination; hallowed ground that stands not only for those buried within but also for the ideals for which they died and which continue to require honor and respect from all American citizens. As perhaps the most critical site of collective mourning and remembrance in the country, Arlington has become an icon of American patriotism and national identity. Micki McElya delves deeply into the historical past to get beyond the popular narratives and guides to this favorite tourist destination that is so heavily invested with national honor and reverence. In doing so, she gives us a full history of the cemetery as a physical place that has been shaped and transformed by the political and cultural aims and circumstances of succeeding generations