Join us to explore the history of how, where and why we bury our dead. Melville will take us on a lively, wide-ranging tour of the history of famous American cemeteries—places that have mirrored passing eras but have also shaped them. Cemeteries gave birth to landscape architecture and famous parks, as well as influenced architectural styles. They’ve inspired and motivated some of our greatest poets and authors—Emerson, Whitman, Dickinson. They’ve also been used as political tools to shift the country’s discourse and as important symbols of the United States's ambition and geographical reach. 


         


But cemeteries are changing and starting to fade away in the 21st century. Burying embalmed bodies is incredibly toxic, and although cremations are now even more popular than burials, they’re not great for the environment either. 

A summer job cutting grass at his hometown cemetery inspired Melville to explore every issue surrounding cemeteries—history, sustainability, land use, and more—but above all to think about what it really means to memorialize the lives of those we love.

Cemeteries in Over My Dead Body


Shawsheen Cemetery in Bedford, Massachusetts


The 1607 Burial Ground in Historic Jamestowne, Virginia


Burial Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts


Colonial Jewish Burial Ground in Newport, Rhode Island


Monticello’s African American Graveyard in Charlottesville, Virginia


Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts


Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York


Laurel Grove Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia


Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts


Central Park in New York, New York


Gettysburg National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania


Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia


Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, New York


Boothill Graveyard in Tombhill, Arizona


Forest Lawn Memorial-Park in Glenwood, California


The Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland, California


Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California


Nature's Sanctuary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

NOTES

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Author photo by Ann Marie Johnson.