Cemeteries Of New Orleans: A Journey Through The Cities Of The Dead

by Jan Arrigo, Laura A. McElroy (Photographer)

Cemeteries of New Orleans: A Journey through the Cities of the Dead is a photographic tour of the city’s captivating graveyards. Glorious photographs accompanied by interesting captions showcase more than fifteen of New Orleans’s historic and fascinating cemeteries (or ""cities of the dead""), such as St. Louis #1, Greenwood, St. Roch, Lafayette, and bayou and plantation country cemeteries. This intriguing volume includes helpful travel information, such as a list of ""who’s buried where."" Sidebars and captions discuss origins of All Saints’ Day, architectural styles, burial processes, cemetery preservation, history, jazz funerals, and voodoo, making "Cemeteries of New Orleans: A Journey through the Cities of the Dead" a stunning keepsake. About the Author and Photographer: Jan Arrigo of New Orleans is the author of "Explore Jean Lafitte National Park and Preserve Louisiana" and Voyageur Press’s "New Orleans." She is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors and Editorial Freelancers Association. Laura A. McElroy of Atlanta, Georgia, is a freelance travel photographer whose work can be found in magazines, including "Y’all" and "Destinations," on postcards and in regional travel books. She teamed up with Jan Arrigo for Voyageur Press’s "New Orleans."

Genres: History, Nonfiction

110 pages, Hardcover

First published April 30, 2005

About the author

New Orleans Author Jan Arrigo writes about travel and her hometown's history.

BOOKS AUTHORED:
"NEW ORLEANS" (VOYAGEUR PRESS)

"EXPLORE JEAN LAFITTE NAT'L PARK AND PRESERVE" (MID CITY)

"CEMETERIES OF NEW ORLEANS, A JOURNEY THROUGH THE CITIES OF THE DEAD" (VOYAGEUR PRESS)

"PLANTATIONS AND HISTORIC HOMES OF NEW ORLEANS" (VOYAGEUR PRESS)


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Reviews

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book filled with history, tradition and origins of the people, tombs and monuments and the city. Easy to read, filled totally with beautiful photographs. I've walked some of these cemeteries and it is an incredible experience both beautiful and sad and they've captured that and rescued the stories and histories of so many groups, families, personages and persons.

[Loren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is full of lovely color photographs of the cemeteries of New Orleans. From the frontispiece of the sunset burning behind the crosses of Greenwood to the warm golden light haloing the Madonnas of Metairie, photographer Laura A. McElroy perfectly encapsulates the peace and beauty of these wonderful places. There may be no better advertisement for visiting, supporting, and restoring these historic graveyards.

McElroy also does a good job of catching people and their relationships with the graveyards of New Orleans, from caretakers and families tending graves to costumed tour guides to runners in Metairie's Race through History. In fact, I'd love to see her shoot a book full of people visiting graves: she has a real knack for capturing the importance of these places to the living.

My favorite chapter of the book is the final one, which visits the Bayou cemeteries. McElroy captures the candle-lined tombs of Les Toussaints les Lumieres du Morte, the Louisiana version of Dia de los Muertos. Everything looks so warm and otherworldly.

Unfortunately, the text doesn't hold up next to the photos. It consists of extremely short essays of questionable accuracy: the St. Roch essay says Father Thevis vowed to built the chapel in 1876, when in fact that was the year it was completed. Later one of the Jewish cemeteries is referred to as Dispursed of Judah. To be honest, though, if you're buying a book about the history of the New Orleans cemeteries, it wouldn't be this one. You'll want with more meat like Life in the Cities of the Dead by Robert Florence.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

History, culture, cemeteries and New Orleans! All things I absolutely love!!!! Easy to read with good pictures.