Fragile Grounds: Louisiana’s Endangered Cemeteries (America’s Third Coast Series)

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Description

Fragile Grounds compiles stories and photographs of endangered cemeteries all through Louisiana’s coastal zone and beyond. These burial places link the fragile land to the frailty of the state’s threatened community structures. The book highlights the state’s vibrant diversity by showing its unique burial customs and traditions, whilst it also identifies the urgent need for ongoing documentation of cultural elements at risk.

Cemeteries associated with the culturally wealthy communities of Louisiana reflect the history and global settlement patterns of the state. Yet many are endangered as a result of recurring natural and man-made events. Nearly 80 percent of the nation’s coastal land loss occurs in Louisiana. Coastal erosion, sinking land, flooding, storm surge, and sea-level rise have led to an inland migration that threatens to get to the bottom of the fabric of Louisiana and, by association, hastens the demise of its burial places.

As people are forced inland, migrants abandon, neglect, or incessantly fail to remember cemeteries as a part of the cultural landscape. In the case of erosion, when the land goes, the cemetery goes with it. Cemeteries fall prey to inland and coastal flooding. As cities grow outward, urban sprawl takes over the landscape. Cemeteries lose out to forces such as expansion, eminent domain, and urban neglect. Not only do cemeteries give comfort for the living, but they also serve as an important link to the past. Once lost, that past cannot be recovered.

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