Abby Burnett to Speak on Death and Burial Customs in the Ozarks

Photo Submitted

Abby Burnett (Photograph by Jim Binns)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – In honor of American Archives Month, journalist Abby Burnett will deliver a program titled, “Gone to the Grave: Burial Customs of the Arkansas Ozarks, 1850–1950” on Wednesday, Oct. 5, in Room 130 on the lower level of Mullins Library. Sponsored by the University of Arkansas Libraries’ special collections department, Burnett’s program is based on her soon to be published book of the same title. A reception begins at 3 p.m., followed by the program at 3:30 p.m.

Burnett will address community customs such as nursing the sick, laying out and sitting with the dead, building coffins, digging graves, and making grave markers, as well as early medical practices and undertaking, infant and maternal mortality, and the advent of embalming and professionally directed funerals.

She will also discuss her book research, which was conducted in the university’s special collections department and other libraries, using genealogy collections and census and mortality records, augmented by interviews with older residents of the Ozarks region.

After Burnett’s remarks, special collections department head Tom Dillard will give an overview of recent activities and new collections acquired by the department. American Archives Month is celebrated annually each October to draw attention to the importance of archives and archivists in preserving America’s historical record. Due to construction on the east side of Mullins Library, parking in the Stadium Drive Parking Facility is recommended. The event is free of charge and open to the public.