Program

Research Programs: Fellowships for College Teachers and Independent Scholars

Period of Performance

7/1/2006 - 6/30/2007

Funding Totals

$40,000.00 (approved)
$40,000.00 (awarded)


A Cultural History of African American Funeral Directing

FAIN: FB-52308-06

Suzanne Eileen Smith
George Mason University (Fairfax, VA 22030-4444)

This project argues that African-American funeral directors relationship to the living is as important as their relationship to the dead. African-American funeral directors "serve the living" in many capacities--working actively as civic leaders, politicians, and civil rights organizers. Moreover, these funeral directors sustain the cultural life of their communities by acting as religious leaders, sponsoring radio stations, and promoting the arts and education through outreach programming. This study analyzes how black funeral directors often used their role as civic leaders to combat racial discrimination and, therefore, offers new insights about how black entrepreneurship contributes to African Americans' fight for racial equality.





Associated Products

To Serve the Living: Funeral Directors and the African American Way of Death (Book)
Title: To Serve the Living: Funeral Directors and the African American Way of Death
Author: Smith, Suzanne Eileen
Year: 2010
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=9780674036215
Primary URL Description: WorldCat entry
Publisher: Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9780674036215