Just enough to put him away decent : death care, life extension, and the making of a healthier South, 1900-1955 / Kristine M. McCusker.

Urbana : University of Illinois Press, [2023]

xi, 302 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

"As the twentieth century began, Black and white southerners alike dealt with low life expectancy and poor healthcare. But the modernization of death care by a diverse group of actors changed not only death rituals but fundamental ideas about health and wellness. Kristine McCusker charts the dramatic transformation that took place when southerners in particular and Americans in general changed their thinking about when one should die, how that death could occur, and what decent burial really means. As she shows, the federal government's utilization of death rituals for its own ends during the world wars made living longer an implied right of citizenship and instilled ideas of health and death in line with national practices. She also examines the common ground between Blacks and whites regarding death care--and how agreement between the races broke down whenever Black death from poverty or white violence challenged the southern caste system"-- Provided by publisher.

Online version: McCusker, Kristine M. Just enough to put him away decent Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 2023

English

July 21, 2023

Includes bibliographical references and index.