The Cemeteries of New Orleans: A Cultural History by Peter Dedek (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 68 Peter Dedek. The Cemeteries of New Orleans: A Cultural History. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2017. ISBN: 9780807166109 Hardcover: 262 pages When I first heard of this book, I was immediately excited and suspicious. How would a new book approach this topic? New Orleans cemeteries are today—as they have been for centuries— places of great intrigue for visitors. As such, they are also the subject of much lore, fantastical tales, and outright misinformation. Howwouldaseriousnewstudyofthecemeteriesinteractwiththis particularlylarge,alluring,andstickyweb? Happily,oneofthejoys of reading this book is following how dexterously Peter Dedek manages to touch on every thread without getting tangled. The dust jacket synopsis of the book implies that Dedek is the onlyauthortoaddresstombbuildersandotherculturalandsocial makers of the cemeteries, whereas many others have told of the “famous people buried in them.” This is not the case. The St. Louis Cemeteries of New Orleans by Leonard V. Huber and Samuel Wilson Jr. FAIA, first published in 1963, and New Orleans Architectures Vol. III: The Cemeteries by Leonard V. Huber, Peggy McDowell , and Mary Louise Christovich, first published in 1974, explore craftsman and period cemetery influences of many kinds. Indeed, for anyone deeply interested in this topic, these are also essential texts for their analysis of wrought iron work and details on topics such as immortelles. Nevertheless, Dedek’s work is an unparalleledadditiontotheliteratureonNewOrleanscemeteries. His scope is much broader and more culturally inquisitive than both of those standbys. This is perhaps enhanced by his vantage as an outsider rather than a local and as a twenty-first-century scholar. This book is ambitious. Although it is subtitled “A Cultural History”—andindeeddelvessuperblyintothataspect—italsocovers architectural forms, construction methods, and the physical preservation of tombs. Indeed, Dedek touches on every topic that wouldhelponetobestunderstandNewOrleans’cemeteries. This very broad scope is made successful by the artful organization of the book. With a carefully structured arrangement of chapters, Dedekmanagestocarryalogicalflowthroughthedisparatetopics ofwhythehistoriccemeteriesofNewOrleansfeatureabove-ground tombs, architecture of the cemeteries, profiles of tomb builders, fraternal and benevolent societies, All Saints Day, voodoo, racism, gardencemeteries,memorialparks,and,finally,prospectsforpreservation . In conclusion, Dedek addresses the very important contemporary question of access to the cemeteries and how recently implemented restrictions at one cemetery could protect the physicalfabric —butforeveraltertheculturalfunction—ofthesite. Two appendices offer quick references to the types and styles of New Orleans tombs and brief histories of New Orleans cemeteries. The first chapter immediately dives into the often misunderstoodfactorsbehindabove -groundburialinNewOrleans. Dedek correctly explains that cultural influences from Europe had much todowiththeshapingofNewOrleanscemeteries,andthatthelow elevation of the city also made people look more favorably upon a designthatwouldkeeptheirfinalrestoutofwaterymud.Onegets a vivid sense of how unsettling the prospect of in-ground burial in New Orleans was to many in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries through numerous quotes about the watery ground and the hungrycrawfish. Butperhapsthegreateststrengthofthischapter ishowDedekreachesfarbeyondthattimeandplacetofullyexplain the historical burial practices that led up to the particular conventionsofearlyeighteenth -centuryNewOrleans,andhowtheywould changeinthelateeighteenthtoearlynineteenthcentury. Hetraces the Catholic cultural traditions of burial back to early Christian times and provides his own excellent photographs of tombs in Pompeii and columbaria in Ostia Antica, Italy. These images juxtaposed with the author’s own of New Orleans cemeteries imme- BOOK REVIEWS 69 ARRIS 27 · 2016 diately convince the reader of the ancient origins of these forms. Dedek likewise uses his own photographs from Madrid, Comillas in northern Spain, and Buenos Aires to illustrate the Spanish cultural connection. The more obvious parallels with Père Lachaise in Paris are also covered by the author’s own photographs. While Dedek does an excellent job with his treatment of the long history of above-ground tombs, he must also be commended for addressingNewOrleans ’lesser-knownin-groundcemeteries. Hisdiscussion of African American influences in Holt Cemetery and the development of the twentieth-century Lake Lawn Memorial Park calls attention to important and often overlooked aspects of cemetery history in New Orleans. HavinganintimateknowledgeofNewOrleanscemeteriesfrom spendingseveralyearsworkingontheirarchitecturalconservation, Ireadthebookwithacriticaleye,searchingforerrorsoromissions, butfoundalmostnone. Onemistakeworthcorrectingisthebook’s explanation of the brick types known locally as River and Lake, which describes the former as harder than the latter when the opposite is true. In the discussion of vandalism in the cemeteries, surprisingly missing was a mention of the removal of a sculpture’s head,whichwasdiscoveredafterthefilmingofEasyRider. Infact, thefilmindustryhasplayedaveryimportantroleintheperception and lore of New Orleans cemeteries, in addition to having a physical impact. This topic...