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Consolations of Memory: Death and Mourning in the Nineteenth Century
October 6, 2018 @ 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
FREEPresented by the Mourning Society of St. Louis
Consolations of Memory is an annual guided cemetery walk of the area surrounding Hotchkiss Chapel at Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum. Each year The Mourning Society of St. Louis focus on a different topic relating to life, death, and mourning in the mid 19th Century. During the tour, guests will learn about tragic events in St Louis history, funeral and burial practices, how the dead were remembered, and the lives of those left behind to mourn the loss. The tour is followed immediately by a funeral reenactment, procession and burial service.
Our 2018 event will focus on the Cholera Epidemic that plagued St. Louis in August and September of 1866 taking 3257 lives.
Registration for this event will open in September 2018.
EVENT LOGISTICS
This is a free event but registration is required.
To help managing parking, we ask that you select an arrival time when you register.
Once you are parked, please proceed to the registration tent for assignment of your guide who will lead you through the stations of the event. Complimentary parking and public restrooms will be available. Enter at the main gate of the cemetery and you will be directed to the parking area.
This is a rain or shine event (except for excessive lightning.)
ABOUT THE MOURNING SOCIETY OF ST. LOUIS
We are a civilian re-enacting group with a focus on mid-nineteenth century mourning, death culture, funeral customs and Victorian spiritualism but we often branch out into other eras and topics from St Louis history such as the ladies of the 1916 Golden Lane Protest, the 1904 World’s Fair and World War I. The Mourning Society has participated in events at Bellefontaine Cemetery and The Missouri History Museum.
