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In a city where rumors of ghosts and spirits swirl, it’s fitting that the history of New Orleans’s cemeteries is just as steeped in intrigue. In Flaming Hearts & Weeping Angels: Secrets & Symbols in New Orleans’s Cemeteries, writer and photographer Sally Asher masterfully assembles everything there is to know about the city’s famous aboveground cemeteries—and the forgotten burial grounds that lie below New Orleans’s hotels, restaurants, sidewalks, and gas stations.
Unique in their architecture and funerary traditions, the “Cities of the Dead,” as they are informally known, have weathered all manner of foes, including hurricanes, pandemics, and thievery, over the last three centuries. Plunging into the past, Asher decodes the cemeteries’ secrets and symbols—even setting the record straight in some cases—in an artfully comprehensible history that takes readers through their architectural elements, burial trends and traditions, current restoration efforts, and more. This gripping history is accompanied by interviews with present-day New Orleans gravediggers, embalmers, funeral directors, archeologists, and tomb builders. Including over one hundred photographs, Flaming Hearts & Weeping Angels: Secrets & Symbols in New Orleans’s Cemeteries is a vivid exploration of New Orleans’s necropolises. To be enjoyed by locals and tourists alike, this book is perfect for anyone hoping to uncover the mysteries of these hallowed grounds.
The day-to-day operations of New Orleans cemeteries have changed very little since the first city of the dead was erected in 1725. Beneath the sprawling oaks and wrought iron, a timeless ritual continues, yet the "Cities of the Dead" are far from static. Flaming Hearts & Weeping Angels offers an immersive journey into the evolving landscape of these sacred spaces, where tradition meets the modern pressures of preservation and climate.
With a foreword by renowned preservationist and former Tulane professor Gene Cizek, this volume decodes the stone and mortar of New Orleans. We trace the dramatic shift from the failed below-ground burials of 1725 to the iconic above-ground tombs of today. Explore the primary influences—environmental, cultural, and hygienic—that mandated this evolution, and master the local dialect of death with a comprehensive Cemetery Terminology guide. Whether you are curious about caveaus, the utility of receiving vaults, or the visceral reality of "disturbing the bones," the mystery is stripped away.
Foreword: Written by Eugene Cizek, former architect, preservationist, Tulane professor, and city planner Introduction and cemetery etiquette: Current evolving state of New Orleans’s cemeteries and a brief history of vandalism in cemeteries and proper protocol
Cemetery terminology in New Orleans: Vocabulary list of basic terms, including caveaus, receiving vaults, disturbing the bones, etc.
Types of burials: History of New Orleans’s first belowground cemetery in 1725 and the four influences behind the current dominant aboveground burials and mourning practices
Coffins and caskets: The adaption of coffins to caskets and current trends in burials
Architecture glossary: Vocabulary lists (and photographic examples) of architecture terms, including table tombs, stepped tombs, wall vaults, pediments, types of columns, sarcophagus, etc.
Stained glass movement: Types of stained glass in cemeteries and examples
Benevolent society tombs: History of benevolent society tombs
Tomb builders: Biographies of seven tomb builders in New Orleans and samples of their works from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century
Tomb types: art nouveau, Gothic, neoclassical, Egyptian, etc.
All Saint’s Day: History of All Saint’s Day and its evolution over the last two decades
History of cremation: History of cremation, New Orleans’s earliest cremation society, and the pet cemetery.
Restoration guide: A guide to the necessary permits to restore a tomb as well as clean and maintain it
Extreme embalming: Brief description of embalming and its types, the state law regarding autopsies, and the latest trend of “extreme embalming,” where people in death are posed in lifelike situations
Interview with a grave digger: Brief introduction on the roles of grave diggers and sections of interviews with three different gravediggers in New Orleans
The Paris influence: How Père Lachaise influenced not only New Orleans but the world
Vietnamese burial traditions in New Orleans: Death rituals for the Vietnamese population in New Orleans All that jazz: History of jazz funerals in New Orleans
The cemeteries of New Orleans: List of all the cemeteries in New Orleans, length of descriptions vary from a few sentences to a few paragraphs
Pet cemetery of New Orleans: History of Heaven’s Pets and laws regarding pet burials in Louisiana
Symbols: Explanation of the cemeteries’ many symbols by type, including Christian, Egyptian, military, benevolent societies, etc.
Unusual tombs: Teodore Bottinelli, Beverly Skelly, Alexander Milne, Joseph Barrelli, Nicolas Cage, Brunswig Pyramid, etc.
List of local famous people and where they are buried: List of politicians, musicians, actors, business, writers, athletes, cultural bearers, etc.