Decoration Day in the Mountains: Traditions of Cemetery Decoration in the Southern Appalachians - Hardcover

Jabbour, Karen Singer

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807833975 ISBN 13: 9780807833971

Publisher: University North Carolina Pr, 2010

Synopsis

This title discusses a little-known but powerful cultural tradition of the American South. Decoration Day is a late spring or summer tradition that involves cleaning a community cemetery, decorating it with flowers, holding a religious service in the cemetery, and having dinner on the ground. These commemorations seem to predate the post - Civil War celebrations that ultimately gave us our national Memorial Day. Little has been written about this tradition, but it is still observed widely throughout the Upland South, from North Carolina to the Ozarks. Written by internationally recognized folklorist Alan Jabbour and illustrated with more than a hundred photographs taken by Karen Singer Jabbour, ""Decoration Day in the Mountains"" is an in-depth exploration of this little-known cultural tradition. The Jabbours illuminate the meanings behind the rituals and reveal how the tradition fostered a grassroots movement to hold the federal government to its promises about cemeteries left behind when families were removed to make way for Fontana Dam and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Richly illustrated and vividly written, ""Decoration Day in the Mountains"" presents a compelling account of a widespread and long-standing Southern cultural practice.

About this title

About the Author

Folklorist Alan Jabbour, former director of the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, has published widely on folk music and folklore. For decades he and his wife, photographer Karen Singer Jabbour, worked together to document grassroots culture in the American South. Since 2004 they have documented Decoration Day from North Carolina west to the Ozarks.

From the Back Cover

Written by an internationally recognized folklorist and illustrated with more than 100 photos, this book is an in-depth exploration of a little-known cultural tradition that dates back to the Civil War and is still observed widely throughout the Upland South, from North Carolina to the Ozarks. Decoration Day is a late spring or summer tradition that involves cleaning a community cemetery, decorating it with flowers, holding a religious service in the cemetery, and having dinner on the grounds. The Jabbours illuminate the meanings behind the rituals and reveal how the tradition fostered a grassroots movement to hold the federal government to its promises about cemeteries left behind when families were removed to make way for Fontana Dam and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Edition details

• Publisher: University North Carolina Pr
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807833975
• ISBN 13: 9780807833971
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256