I. Early Mortuary Practices
A. Pagan roots of modern funeral practice
3. Importance of laws, customs, traditions and fashions
4. Composition of Western culture today
B. Funeral customs of the Ancient Egyptians
a. Theologies of sun-worship and the cult of Osiris
2. The threat of plague as a burial motive
3. Embalming practice and procedures
a. Early periods of Egyptian history
(3). Wooden and earthenware baskets
b. Late periods of Egyptian history
(1). Concern with perfection in preservation
(2). Use of massive sarcophagi
(3). Use of hieroglyphic inscriptions
(4). Change in the shape of coffins to an anthropoid design
(5). Development of the portrait coffin
(6). Use of precious metals and jewels in burial
5. Undertaking specialists and embalming ritual
c. Dissector or anatomist
d. Pollinctor or apothecary
6. Influence or Egyptian death customs
C. Funeral customs of the Ancient Greeks
a. Bodily existence under the earth
b. Concept of a shadowy afterlife
c. Introduction of cremation
a. Preparation of the body
c. Cremation and/or earth burial
a. Materials used in coffin-making
b. Classification of tombs
(3). Trapazae or square-cut tombs
(4). Naidia or temple-like structures
D. Funeral customs of the Ancient Romans
1. Roman view of death and importance of burial
c. Influence of mystery cults
e. Influence of Christianity
d. Class distinctions in burial
(1). Libitina, goddess of corpses and funerals
(2). Libitinarius, or head undertaker
(3). Pollinctores, or embalmers
(4). Designator, or master of ceremonies
3. Early funeral directing
a. Provision of equipment and participants
(1). Ordinary funerals at night
(2). High status funerals during the day
d. Influence of Constantine and Christianity on funeral
behavior
4. Influence of Roman burial practices
E. Early Christian, Hebrew and Scandinavian burial
1. Funeral practices in early Hebrew culture
2. Funeral beliefs and customs of early Christians
b. Resurrection of the body in relation to cremation
c. Christian equality in death
f. Preparation of the body
h. The funeral procession
i. Early Christian cemeteries
j. Increasing complexity in burial practices: catacombs
k. Early Christian funeral functionaries
3. Funeral beliefs and customs of ancient Germans and
Scandinavians
(1). As protection from the dead
(2). As an aid in freeing the spirit of the dead
(3). Influence on modern customs
F. Death and burial through the Middle Ages and Renaissance
1. Christian influence on funeral behavior during the early
Middle Ages
a. Funerals and funeral behavior
b. Church and cemetery burial
c. Disposal and contagion
d. The Purgatorial Doctrine and the formation of Leagues of
Prayer and other pious practice
(1). Catholic doctrine of purgatory
(2). Steward of the Guild
(3). Soul shot or mortuary fee
e. The wake during the Middle Ages
g. Funerals of state during the Middle Ages: use of effigy
i. The plagues or Black Death
(1). Great Plague of London, 1664-1665
(2). Effects of plague on the cemeteries
j. Introduction of coffin burials
2. Social developments and funeral practices
a. English Middle Ages: Increase of funeral ostentation
b. Development of burial clubs
c. Change of shroud from linen to wool: Burial in Woolen Act of
1666d. Mourning colors
e. The widow during the Middle Ages
(2). Required clothing for mourning
f. Influence of local customs
(1). Sprinkling a handful of dirt on the corpse
(2). Jewish custom of placing a bag of earth in the coffin
(4). Burial with feet toward the east
g. Medieval preoccupation with the physical aspect of death
h. Emergence of the sexton
i. Independent heart burial
j. Independent bone burial
k. Embalming during the Middle Ages
l. Introduction of the surgeon and anatomist
(1). Reasons for interest in dead human bodies
(2). Importance of preservation
m. Influence of the Reformation in Christian funeral beliefs
and practices
(1). Decrease of burial clubs
(2). Decrease in ostentation
(3). Rejection of the doctrine of purgatory
G. Medical embalmers and the rise of English undertakers
1. Embalming as a tool for the growth of medical service
2. Role of the barber-surgeons
3. Introduction of the funeral undertaker
4. Feudal funerals: Peak of heraldry and pomp
5. Coffins and funeral goods: Introduction of many craftsmen
into funeral undertaking
6. Relationship of the clergy and the funeral undertaker
7. Burial and sanitary reform
a. Edwin Chadwick and the Poor Law Commissioners
b. Influence of Chadwick's Report on intramural interments and
burial practices.
II. Rise of American Funeral Practices
A. American colonial funeral behavior
2. Framework for funeral practices
b. Massachusetts Bay Colony
a. Models of simplicity and dignity in earliest New England
b. Increase in social character of mourning
(2). Increased burden on colonial widow
d. Social change in later colonial period: influence of
revolutions
B. Early American funeral undertaking
1. Limitations of the term "funeral directing"
a. Provision of a set of tasks for the care and disposal of the
dead
b. A personal service which operates as a business enterprise
a. Introduction of many craftsmen into the field of undertaking
b. Importance increased as cities grew and material resources
of the townspeople increased
3. Earlier performers of the personal service
c. Specific layers-out of the dead
4. Religious Functionaries: role of the church sexton
6. Specific undertaking procedures from death to burial
C. Development of coffins, burial cases and caskets
1. Seventeenth and eighteenth century coffin burial
a. Earlier burial methods
b. Availability of necessary craftsmen
e. Furnishing and undertakers
2. Early coffin shops and warehouses
3. Variation in early function and type
a. Improvement of function, style, and composition
b. Emphasis on increased utility
c. The desire for complete protection
d. Change from gloom to beauty
4. Stone and metal coffins
5. The Fisk metallic coffin
a. Return to anthropoid shape
b. Introduction of air-tight coffin
c. Claims of the manufacturer
6. Increase in the manufacture of metallic burial cases
7. Introduction of metallic burial casket
b. Changes in design presented
c. Emphasis on presentation of the dead
d. Impact on modern methods
a. Construction methods and materials
b. Impact on coffin/casket manufacturing
c. Style 'E' state casket
9. Nineteenth century also-rans
b. Methods and materials used
11. Burial vaults and outside boxes
c. Basic concepts for use
e. Impact on modern practice
D. Development of embalming
1. Preservation of the dead in the nineteenth century
2. Customary aspect of preserving the dead
a. Growth of methods from the European Continent through the
Colonial period
c. Eighteenth century sawdust and tar level
3. Impact of growing cities
4. Varied methods used prior to the nineteenth century
5. Corpse coolers and cooling boards
a. Principle of ice refrigeration
b. Methods and materials used
d. Advantages and disadvantages
6. Role of air-tight receptacles in the development of
embalming
a. Influences on development
(1). More effective preservative for anatomical studies
(2). Provided a longer viewing period
(3). Added element of disinfection
b. Techniques and materials used
(2). J. Anthony Gaussardia
d. Role of the medical practitioners in the development of
chemical embalming
8. Development of schools and the spread of embalming
a. Role of chemical manufacturers
(1). Provided traveling salesman to promote the chemicals
(2). Provided training to those who purchased embalming chemicals
(3). Provided warehousing of chemicals and the development of
chemicals
b. Introduction of embalming schools
(1). Separation from chemical companies
(2). Improvement of quality of instruction
c. Influential persons in the development of schools in the
19th century
e. Influence on modern practices
E. Development of funeral transportation
1. Funeral processions and the hearse
a. Origin of the word "hearse"
b. Early methods of transportation of the body
3. Horse-drawn hearses of the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries
c. Undertakers' buying cycle
5. Introduction of the gas buggy
a. Design of gasoline-powered hearses
b. Introduction of other funeral automobiles
c. Funeral automobile construction
6. Sizes and colors of hearses
7. Development of funeral cars throughout the twentieth century
III. Patterns of Late Nineteenth Century Funerals
A. First response to death
1. Family reaction and behavior
1. Common occurrence of death at home
2. Procedures in the cities
a. Relieving the families of the responsibility of preparing
the body
b. Preparation procedures
3. Procedures in rural areas
a. Usually no undertakers available
b. Preparation procedures
c. Shared responsibilities
C. Influence of the introduction of embalming
1. Notification of relatives
a. Role of the undertaker
b. Locations for the funeral
a. Role of the undertaker
F. The funeral procession and burial
2. Procedures at graveside
G. Late nineteenth century mourning symbols
2. Appearance of the home
3. Timetable of mourning behavior
4. Stationery and calling cards
5. Social emblems for funeral participants
H. Attitude change from gloom to beauty
2. More aesthetic luxury in caskets
3. Introduction of the use of flowers
a. Design in floral funeral pieces
b. Use of artificial flowers
IV. The Associational Impulse
1. Occupational organization
2. Socio-cultural movements
a. The general public health movement
b. The specific movement for cremation
B. Nineteenth century associational development among funeral
directors
1. Origins and early developments
a. Undertakers Mutual Protective Association of Philadelphia
b. Chicago Undertakers Association
d. Michigan Funeral Directors Association
2. Development of the National Funeral Directors Association
3. Pressures, interest, and motive
4. Characteristics of early leadership
6. Communication within the trade
7. Growth, problems, and change
8. Traces of professionalism at the turn of the century
V. Institutional Growth and Modern Associational Development
2. Agencies, conferences and councils
a. Development of state boards
b. American Board of Funeral Service Education (ABFSE)
c. Conference of Funeral Service Examining Board, Inc.
d. University of Mortuary Science Education Association
e. National Association of Colleges of Mortuary Science
f. American Association of Colleges of Mortuary Science
3. Interest groups National Funeral Directors Association
(NFDA)
4. Licensing laws and increase of educational requirements
B. Developments in mortuary law
1. National Funeral Directors Association
2. National Selected Morticians
3. Order of the Golden Rule
4. Jewish Funeral Directors of America
5. National Foundation of Funeral Service
6. Casket Manufacturers Associations
VI. Modern Funeral Practices
2. Funeral director's first call
B. Operating the modern funeral home
1. Modern funeral establishments
2. Alternative forms of operation
4. Alternative forms of funeral services
b. Direct disposal/cremation
e. Funeral chapel services
VII. Fundamentals of Sociology in Funeral Service
13. Enculturation/socialization
B. Applications of sociology in funeral service
1. Funeral rite as a social function
2. Funeral rite as a cultural universal
a. Announcement of the death
VIII. American Customs and Funeral Rites
1. Characteristics and responsibilities
b. Teaching and discipline
c. Direction and motivation
2. Types of family government
a. Common characteristics
b. Basic key relationships
e. Women's subservient position
g. Impact of death of a member
a. Common characteristics
b. Basic key relationships
f. Impact of death of a member
5. Modified extended family
a. Common characteristics
b. Interactions related to death
6. Other types of family structure
a. Single parent families
7. Changes in family structure
8. Effects of modern society on the family
a. Changing attitudes toward marriage
b. Extended life expectancy
B. Social factors that affect American funeral rites
IX. Changes in American Funeral Rites
A. Location of funeral rite and preparation of body
B. Involvement of family and friends
C. Responsibility placed on funeral director
E. Influence of the automobile
F. Influence of the airplane
G. Methods of disposition
H. Influence of organized religions
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