On April 14, 1865, at approximately 10:20 p.m., John Wilkes Booth, a prominent American actor, sneaked up behind President Abraham Lincoln as he watched a play from the presidential box at Ford's Theater and shot him in the back of the head at point-blank range. Of the 14 doctors who attended to President Lincoln on the night of his assassination,…

Discusses the tragic deaths of two of John Dewey's young sons and his eventual meeting and adoption of a crippled Italian boy, Sabino, who became an important part of Dewey's life. Sabino eventually became the only Dewey child to carry on work in elementary education as a teacher in progressive schools and as a designer of educational equipment.…

Examined funeral sermons published in England from 1601 through 1630. Found pattern of male preference; fewer funeral sermons for women. In sermon text, laudatory and idealized comments about deceased reflected and helped to perpetuate sex differences in society. Number of times sermons were reprinted did not strongly reinforce pattern of…

Presents information on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Examines Joseph Smith's early knowledge of death experience and teachings on death, five historical Mormon near-death experience (NDE) accounts predating 1864 and two NDEs in late 1800s, other Mormon teachings on death experience, and Mormon sources of knowledge on death…

Joining African religion with Catholicism, women of northeastern Brazil re-enact century-old ceremonies. When forced to practice Catholicism, Afro-Brazilians assimilated their concepts of forces into the belief in Christian saints. Sisterhoods and brotherhoods in Brazil were underground manifestations of religions native to Africa. (VM)

Discusses the gruesome images of death occurring in medieval art and letters. Suggests that the images are a form of symbolism based on body metaphors. By means of decomposing bodies, artists and poets symbolized the disintegration of medieval institutions and the transition to the early modern period in Europe. (JAC)

Explores custom of post-mortem photography. Describes practice of post-mortem photography in 19th century America and traces changes in post-mortem photography in the 20th century. Discusses value of photographs in mourning process and suggests more thorough examination of the place of death-related photographs in grief management. (Author/NB)

Notes that "suicide" has not always been preferred term in English-speaking societies for self-inflicted death. Recounts evidence suggesting that "suicide" was devised by Sir Thomas Browne and first published in book "Religio Medici" in 1643. Traces how "suicide" had become established as noun and verb by…

Outlines a cursory history and commentary on the euthanasia movement in the United States and emphasizes the growing demand for recognition of the individual's right to make informed treatment decisions. The growing numbers and isolation of the elderly and effects in insurance coverage on the care of the dying are also discussed. (Author)

Reviews social science writing on parental bereavement in Anglo-American history, concluding that parents as early as early seventeenth century have left records of their grief. Notes that emotional expressiveness following infant death was greatest during nineteenth century but decreased toward end of century and became taboo in twentieth…

Examines the changing occupational patterns of Chinese Americans in the past 100 years. Considers the historic background of legal and socioeconomic restrictions, occupation accommodation, differences between native and foreign-born Chinese, Chinese entrepreneurship, the Chinatown sub-economy, and the health status of Chinese with work experience.…

Many historical and traditional symbols are recorded in cemeteries. The symbols and motifs on tombstones profile individual lives, but they also convey information regarding a society's order, values, religious practices, and realities at the time of the individual's death. The primary goals of this research effort were to identify a variety of…

John Bowlby's theory of attachment is examined in the cultural and historical context in which it was developed. Bowlby trained as a psychiatrist in England during the 1920's and published the WHO report in 1951. Thus the origins of his theory can be related to events set in motion by the First World War and occurring during the interwar period…

This is Volume 2 of the Report of the Commissioner of Education for the Year 1892-93, containing Parts III and IV. Part III contains the chapters: (1) Documents Illustrative of American Educational History; (2) Report of the Committee of Ten on Secondary School Studies, with Papers Relating Thereto; (3) The National Educational Association; (4)…

Analyzes primary document from German Holocaust period in which German bureaucrats described in euphemistic terms the murder of the Jews. Illustrates how the document can be used as a teaching aid by having students replace the euphemisms using words with their intended meaning, and reading it aloud in class. References include sources of…