Worth a Thousand Words

“This Place of Silence” is a photographic portrait of the state’s cemeteries and burial grounds by Ohio photographers Ian Adams and Randall Lee Schieber. The text and photo captions, written by Robin L. Smith, provide an overview of the history of burial grounds—from prehistoric mounds to modern “green” cemeteries—and many fascinating details about gravestones, mausoleums, statuary and cemetery landscapes.

According to historian Jeffrey E. Smith, the coffee-table book “gives readers more than a book about cemeteries—it is about the American experience itself.”

The introduction provides an overview of the historical place of burial grounds in our society and of their value today, not only as rich sources of history but also as repositories of art, architecture and nature. Cemeteries record the history of their communities in their names and dates, but they also tell us how a community wanted its history recorded: How did this community see itself? Who were the prominent people, and what did they accomplish? Graveyards, especially older ones, are also full of quirky names and mysteries. Who would name a child Nimrod, and where did that name come from? Why would two families build identical side-by-side mausoleums? Who would want a grave marker that looks like a pile of stones?

The book’s chapters cover prehistoric mounds and early European American burial grounds; the evolution from rural cemeteries in the 19th century to modern green burials; art, architecture and symbolism in cemeteries; cemeteries and nature; military and institutional burial grounds; and distinctive ethnic cemeteries. Cemeteries in all 88 Ohio counties are included and listed in a guide at the end of the book.

In over 200 photographs, the book’s creators highlight and showcase these sometimes neglected pieces of history. Their work shows that rather than dark, morbid places to be avoided, cemeteries are historic landscapes that are full of beauty, hope and honor for those Ohioans who came before us.

Laura André is the publicity and metadata manager at the Ohio University Press.

Feature photo courtesy Ian Adams