Roadside crosses in contemporary memorial culture
By: by Holly Everett.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
Published: 2002
Place of publication: Denton
Language: eng
Number of pages: 145
Subjects: Crosses.; Roadside architecture.; Funeral rites and ceremonies.; Death -- Social aspects.; Crosses -- Texas -- Austin Region.; Roadside architecture -- Texas -- Austin Region.; Funeral rites and ceremonies -- Texas -- Austin Region.; Death -- Social aspects -- Texas -- Austin Region.; Austin (Tex.) -- Social life and customs.
Description: "In this study of roadside crosses, the first of its kind, Holly Everett presents the history of these unique commemoratives and their relationship to contemporary memorial culture. The meaning of these markers is presented in the words of grieving parents, high school students, public officials, and private individuals whom the author interviewed during her fieldwork in Texas.".

"Everett covers more than thirty-five memorial sites with twenty-five photographs representing the wide range of creativity. Examining the complex interplay of politics, culture, and belief, she emphasizes the importance of religious expression in everyday life and analyzes responses to death that this tradition illustrates.".

"Roadside crosses are a meeting place for communication, remembrance, and reflection, embodying on-going relationships between the living and the dead. They are a bridge between personal and communal pain - and one of the oldest forms of memorial culture." "Scholars in Folklore, American studies, cultural geography, cultural/social history, and material culture studies will be especially interested in this study."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-138) and index.
Table of contents: title: Memorial culture : the material response to loss; title: The cross-cultural roadside cross; title: Roadside memorial case studies; title: Bereavement made manifest; title: Cross connections, social meanings.