The Sacred Remains: American Attitudes Toward Death in the Early 19th Century

Join Dr. Gary Laderman as he explores the changing attitudes toward death and the dead in the first half of the 19th century. Our current exhibit at Cliveden, The Turmoil of Transition, explores the experiences of one household after the death of Benjamin Chew Jr in 1844.

Dr. Laderman is the Goodrich C. White Professor of American Religious History and Cultures at Emory University and author of numerous books including two on the history of death in America: The Sacred Remains: American Attitudes Toward Death, 1799-1883 (Yale University Press, 1996) and Rest in Peace: A Cultural History of Death and the Funeral Home in Twentieth-Century America (Oxford University Press, 2003).