Individual Presentation or Panel Title
“Gone But Not Forgotten”: A Study of Gravestone Imagery and Iconography in Southwestern Virginian Cemeteries
Abstract
For my piece, I chose to take a sociological approach to the study of gravestones. My goal was to learn about basic research practice, as well as gain insight into the social construction of death. I began my research by looking to articles related to my topic to get a sense of what was within my personal capabilities and interests. I then visited five cemeteries in the Roanoke area and photographed a total of 250 markers/headstones, which I then categorized and analyzed based on assumed gender, approximate age, time period of death, and general script/epigraphs. The work of Frankoviglia (1971) was my leading resource; I looked to his piece on Oregonian cemeteries as a basis for my final thesis. My research question looked at the four different time periods that Francoviglia described and compared his descriptive data to what I had found in each of my cemeteries. I also concluded that, as his work was finished in the 1970s, there was another period after his “modern” period: a late-modern period that spanned across the 1970s to present and offer examples from my work.
Location
Janney Lounge
Start Date
21-4-2012 2:30 PM
End Date
21-4-2012 3:20 PM
“Gone But Not Forgotten”: A Study of Gravestone Imagery and Iconography in Southwestern Virginian Cemeteries
Janney Lounge
For my piece, I chose to take a sociological approach to the study of gravestones. My goal was to learn about basic research practice, as well as gain insight into the social construction of death. I began my research by looking to articles related to my topic to get a sense of what was within my personal capabilities and interests. I then visited five cemeteries in the Roanoke area and photographed a total of 250 markers/headstones, which I then categorized and analyzed based on assumed gender, approximate age, time period of death, and general script/epigraphs. The work of Frankoviglia (1971) was my leading resource; I looked to his piece on Oregonian cemeteries as a basis for my final thesis. My research question looked at the four different time periods that Francoviglia described and compared his descriptive data to what I had found in each of my cemeteries. I also concluded that, as his work was finished in the 1970s, there was another period after his “modern” period: a late-modern period that spanned across the 1970s to present and offer examples from my work.