Cemeteries
as Social Spaces
This semester I traveled to two
cemeteries in the greater Los Angeles area in order to study how these
cemeteries are used as social spaces. The
two cemeteries I visited were Forest Lawn Glendale Memorial-Park and Hollywood
Forever Memorial. To find out how these
cemeteries operated as social spaces I kept several questions in mind while I
conducted my fieldwork: Who goes to
these cemeteries? Why do people come to
these cemeteries and what do they do?
What do these cemeteries mean to their visitors? And finally, does Forest Lawn Glendale
continue to be a space for recreation and socialization that it once was in my
early youth? Taking the information
gathered I will interpret and theorize aspects of the character and culture of
life in Los Angeles.
The importance of my project is
to show that cemeteries are not just used for burying the dead; there are many
more interesting things that take place in them. As a child growing up in the Los Angeles area
my perspective on cemeteries might be different than most. My father was a groundskeeper at Forest Lawn
Glendale Memorial-Park and my family would visit often. We would have picnics, feed the ducks by the
pond, run around and look at the many monuments and architecture located
there. It is one of my favorite places
to go and yet when people here that statement they get a morbid picture in
their minds and they are not afraid to share that picture with me. The more I explain the beauty and history of
the cemetery, the less these people view my attachment to the cemetery as
odd. I realized over time that not too
many people are actually aware of the beauty and different aspects of the
cemetery. It appears that most people
also do not realize the many different activities that take place in a
cemetery. Not only is Forest Lawn a
place where loved ones have their final resting place, but it is also a place
that holds church services, weddings, and holiday events. I have been visiting this park since I was a
baby, I have three generations of family buried there. My great-great grandparents were also married there. This cemetery holds a very special
significance in my life.
Methods
For my project I used a variety
of methods to collect data on how cemeteries are used as social spaces. I did many observations, I visited many of
the tourist attractions of Forest Lawn, researched the historical background of
Forest Lawn, and I conducted interviews. In addition, I did an inventory of the number
of cars entering and exiting Forest Lawn in two fifteen minute increments to
give an idea of how many people visit the park. I traveled to Hollywood Forever Memorial twice,
spending more than five hours there; I went to Forest Lawn Memorial-Park four
times and spent over thirteen hours at that location.
Data
Hollywood
Forever Memorial
Hollywood Forever Memorial I
first paid a visit to on Wednesday February 22nd, 2012. I was completely
prepared with a notebook and camera.
When I arrived about 2:00pm I was extremely shocked to find the place
almost completely empty. For an hour I
observed, there was some construction going on, two men in business suits were
sitting at a table, three people rode their bikes by me and one older Asian
women went for a walk with what appeared to be her granddaughter. What I
had not considered until after my arrival was that if this is a tourist
attraction not too much tourism occurs during the week. I decided to go and talk with an employee to
find out more about the cemetery. I walked into a very beautiful, old
style building and a nice woman at the front desk asked me if she could help
me. I told her the purpose for my visit and asked her if she could tell me
anything unique about this cemetery. She says, “A lot of famous people are
buried here”. I felt like replying “No duh” but that would not have been
very professional. She then said, “during
the summer months an old movie is shown outside on the lawn once a month and it
cost $10 to get in. A lot of the younger
crowd goes to that.” I thanked her for talking to me and then I went to
the flower shop and bought a map of the place.
I decided to return on a weekend when hopefully more people would be
there.
When I arrived the following
Sunday at 1:04pm there were more people there but no tourist activities were taking
place as I had originally expected. A
funeral was being set up, and several families were tending to occupied plots.
I observed people cleaning off the tombstones, and planting and watering
flowers. As I walked through the park I
observed two men listening to very loud rap music and smoking marijuana next to
a grave. I walked briskly past them. I was a little frightened by the fact that
there was no security there to stop them.
I finally arrived at the section of Hollywood Memorial where the movie
stars from the 1920’s and 30’s rest. I
had an image in my mind of people taking photos with friends and families next
to the gravestones of their favorite classic actors and actresses. To my surprise, no one was visiting
there. There was no activity at
all.
At 2:09pm the stillness broke
with an approaching tour bus. I was so
excited, I felt like now I could observe some eventful use of this cemetery as
a tourist attraction. To my dismay as the tourists came out of the
bus I saw many walkers and canes accompany them. All the tourists appeared to be in there 70’s
and 80’s. There was a tour guide talking
to them and they stood and listened. I
realized at this point that focusing on Forest Lawn Glendale would prove to be
more profitable in gathering data from a youthful perspective. In regards to observing how cemeteries are
used as social spaces the data I gathered from Hollywood Memorial tells us with
a lot of useful information. A cemetery
can be used as a tourist attraction for the elderly, a unique place to watch a
movie during the summer and a location for smoking marijuana.
Forest
Lawn Memorial Park
The
History
The purpose of Forest Lawn from
the very beginning was not to be just a cemetery; founder Hubert Lewright Eaton
had something grander in mind. Before
the creation of Forest Lawn, Eaton, the son of a professor, obtained a
Bachelors degree in chemical engineering.
He held many jobs. For example,
he worked as a chemist and also worked in a copper mine. He even purchased silver mines in Nevada. However, by age thirty he was in St. Louis
with no job and no money. After talking
to Charles Marsh, a friend at the local bank, it was recommended to him that he
speak with Charlie Sims about a new idea of selling cemetery plots before
death. Up until this point it was rare
to buy a cemetery plot ahead of time.
After much reluctance to Marsh’s idea, Eaton finally gave in and met
with Sims. This was the start of
something wonderful. In June of 1912,
Forest Lawn Cemetery Association, ran by Norton Wells at the time, hired Sims
and Eaton to sell cemetery plots. After wrestling
with many political and financial issues through the building of this new idea,
Eaton became very successful and eventually was named president of Forest Lawn
Cemetery Association (Kath, 2006:18-22).
New responsibilities came with this new job title. Eaton was not only in charge of selling plots
but he was also responsible for developing the cemetery. Just as this association ran into more
financial and political troubles, it was decided that Forest Lawn Cemetery
Association be renamed as Forest Lawn Memorial-Park Association, and Eaton would
soon after become owner of Forest Lawn.
His vision was soon to become a reality.
He turned Forest Lawn into something more than just a cemetery; it
became a park for many other activities to take place. Churches, statues, monuments, and paintings
were placed all over the lawns. His
biggest project was the construction of the Hall of The Crucifixion, which
reached completion in 1951. This
building’s sole purpose was to house The Crucifixion, a painting created by a
Polish man named Jan Styka. This painting
is 195 feet long and 45 feet wide, and was rediscovered by Eaton in an old
Opera house in Chicago.
The Tourist
During my research, I took the
time to visit all the “tourist” attractions of Forest Lawn. On February 24, 2012 I went to Forest Lawn
from 12:40pm- 5:06pm. I began my
research by first sitting in the grass at entrance of Forest Lawn and counting the
cars that entered and departed. The purpose in this is to discover how
much activity takes place on a daily basis at Forest Lawn. I found that
there is a lot more traffic that comes in and out of this cemetery compared to
Hollywood Memorial. For example, in a
15-minute period at 12:41pm, 32 cars entered and 37 cars exited. At
4:51pm, 36 cars entered and 50 cars exited.
These numbers suggest that many people visit this cemetery throughout
the day.
The
Museum
Due to the fact that Forest Lawn is a large area it was
difficult for me to observe the whole park, I decided to pick a few locations
that I enjoyed as a youth and observe why people attend. I first went to
the museum at Forest Lawn to observe. The
smell inside was similar to a library and is the same as I remembered. It
was rather quiet until two women started chatting in French. Soon after a
man walked in. He was dressed in black. He took a quick glance around the room and
then left. Two minutes later an older
couple walked in through the back entrance near to where I was sitting. The older man got a phone call and walked
out. This gave me the perfect
opportunity to ask the woman a few questions. I asked her why she came to
the museum and if she comes often. She told me that her friend brought her
here because she loves cemeteries. She also said that she feels at peace
when she visits a cemetery. I said in
excitement “me too!” It was neat to know that I am not the only one that
feels this way.
The
Hall of the Crucifixion
At 2:00pm a presentation was
being shown at The Hall of the Crucifixion.
Being that the museum is right next to this location the transition was
easy. When I arrived I noticed that
there were only four people inside and they were the same four people whom I
had observed in the museum earlier. The building is massive. It was so grand that words can hardly describe
it. The presentation of the painting was
very detailed and moving. At the
beginning of the presentation, a large curtain covered the painting. The painting was created in 1897 and it’s
amazing to see the skill that the artist had to create this 45-foot tall
painting so long ago. The history of the
painting and how Eaton found it was all presented in a documentary, which was
featured on two big flat screens below the painting. The lights were off when the documentary was
playing and then to add to the drama the painting was revealed and the only
light that was shining was on the painting.
A voice narrated the painting as lights shined on the areas that the speaker
was talking about.
A Funeral
At
approximately 3:05pm I took a break from touring and decided to relax
underneath a tree in the older area of Forest Lawn. A crowd began to form around the freshly set
up grave across the street from where I was sitting. As more and more people
gathered, I noticed that their ages were roughly between 50 to 70 years. A
hearse pulled up slowly and six men lifted the dark brown casket out of the
back of the car. The energy of the crowd radiated toward me, a sadness,
heaviness and anxiety reached my heart. A minister wearing a white gown
and holding a silver chain connected to a box with smoke of burning incense pouring
out of its holes, led the casket to its final resting place. I had never
seen this ritual before. The language, I didn’t understand a
word. The crowd became quiet as the minister continued with the
ceremony. They moved their hands to their bodies and performed the sign of
the cross in unison. Then, out of the quietness of the crowd a cell phone
went off. A loud bell-like sound flowed from an older gentleman’s golden
shirt pocket. After two rings he answered, “No no, its okay I can talk” and
began to walk away from the funeral. I felt
angry by the disrespect that this man had shown toward the person being lowered
into the earth and those that were there to pay their last respects. I
began to wonder, why did this man come to the funeral? Many people turned and looked at him but he
just walked away continuing his conversation.
A Unique Interaction
It was the last three minutes
of my final observation when a man approached me and asked “Doing
research?” “Yes”, I responded while still looking at the cars, trying to
make sure one didn’t slip by my view. During the next two minutes we
exchanged a few words. Then the man
stood by me in silence. It was
awkward. When I finally finished
observing and counting cars, the man introduced himself to me as Peter. I shook his hand and said, “Sheena, nice to
meet you.” He asked me what my project
was about. I summarized my assignment
and then proceeded to ask him what he was doing there. He explained that
he was taking pictures for a tour company that he worked for. Forest Lawn Glendale was the newest addition
to their L.A. tour. I found it fascinating that Forest Lawn is now being
considered a tourist attraction. He then shared with me his educational
background. He had just graduated from
UCLA with a Masters in Urban Studies. I was impressed and understood why
he was talking to me, I don’t think he cared too much about my project, but I
humored him with more details hoping to get some good “UCLA” feedback. We began to walk together to where he was
parked, exchanging thoughts and ideas of Forest Lawn. Right before he got
in his car he began to show signs of being nervous. I noticed that the color in his face turned
to a light pink. He placed his hands in
his pockets. His eyes were focusing on his shoes. He lightly kicked the air and tilted his head
slightly to the right. I smiled and tried to play it cool but his
nervousness began to make me nervous. He changed his gaze from the ground
to meet my eyes and said “So maybe sometime you can give me a personal tour of
Forest Lawn since you are such an expert and all.” I responded, “Sure, I
would love to.” I gave him my email address and he said he would contact
me soon. Sadly, I never heard back from that good looking, cute, well
educated man, however, I found it interesting that I was hit on at a
cemetery. Apparently cemeteries are not just used for burying loved ones,
meditating, tours and looking at architecture.
They are also places to get a date!
The Formal Interviews
I conducted two formal interviews one
with Beverly and David Rios, life long visitors and also my grandparents, and
the other with Elaine Williams, the Vice President of Forest Lawn
Glendale. Both interviews gave two
different yet informative perspectives on the Park. Beverly has several generations of family
buried there and finds peace on the grounds.
Elaine has been an employee of Forest Lawn for two years and knows more
of what takes place behind the scenes.
On March 25th, 2012 I arrived
at the Rios residence at 10:34am. After
knocking on the door twice, I was greeted with open arms. After a bit of small talk and learning that
Beverly has three generations of family buried at Forest Lawn and has been
visiting that space since she was four years old, we all agreed to make a visit
together to the cemetery.
At 12:43pm Beverly and David went to
Forest Lawn and began to visit the gravestones of their loved ones that had
passed on. We drove to each approximate
site and got out of the car to search for the specific plots. It was lightly sprinkling, and a few
raindrops hit the screen on my camera as I took a picture of each gravestone.
After our tour, we went to eat lunch at
Ernie Juniors, a restaurant that is nearby the cemetery. We sat down at a half circle booth and began
to view the menu. David and Beverly both
visit this restaurant often and know several servers by name. They got the soup and sandwich combo and I
ordered the club sandwich with no mayo.
We finished with lunch and arrived back at the quant duplex house with
the white trim, it was 2:45pm.
Once we arrived back to their home I
began to conduct my formal interview. I
asked her if she had noticed any changes over the years of her attendance. She responded: “ Um, it’s a lot more populated (she
stops to clear her throat). It was always busy but not like it is
now. Um, there was just, there are just so many people now it just gets so
crowded. Back then you could take your time… It’s so beautiful there, it’s
just like a park, an oasis in the middle of the city. Its beautiful green
expanse of the beautiful green grass and then the trees. It’s… it makes
you feel like it’s the closest thing to heaven.” She continued on talking about how at
Christmas time they used to decorate the graves with small Christmas trees and
all the music that used to play in the different sections around the park. Her face lit up as she told me all her
memories. I could tell that this place
was very special to her. She went on to
discuss the history of the park, the architecture, and the museum from her
perspective. She even mentioned getting
stuck in traffic during the Michael Jackson funeral. One story that was particularly funny was
when the geese chased Beverly and David back to their car. By the lake geese and ducks will visit
seasonally, on one particular day Beverly and David didn’t have any food to
give them but they still wanted to go to lake and rest for a while. The geese apparently didn’t like that idea
and as soon as they got to close, the geese began to chase them. They both laughed while telling me this story
and expressed some concern for Forest Lawn in fear that someone who could
potentially get bit might sue them.
As we went on with the interview she
shared one last thing with me about Forest Lawn. She raved about the Easter Service that they
held there each year. She then told me
about the restaurant that was right across the way that her and David would go
to after the service. I was so moved by
how much she and David both loved that service that I attended the next Easter
service at Forest Lawn. One thing that
she failed to mention to me was that the service was in Spanish. I didn’t understand a thing but I did get a
feel for the beauty of the service that she described so eloquently.
On April 16th, 2012 I
went to Forest Lawn and interviewed Elaine Williams who is the Vice President
of Forest Lawn Glendale. The interview went
from 1:40pm-3:07pm and it was extremely informative. When I arrived at the main office in the
front of the park I opened a big, antique style door and that special Forest
Lawn library like smell hit my nose. I
was greeted with a warm friendly smile and was led into a conference room. Elaine was extremely warm and welcoming, I
was comfortable right away. After some
small talk she began to discuss the history of Forest Lawn and its
founder. I asked her about her job, how
long she worked for Forest Lawn and what she liked about it. She responded, “It’s an awesome place to
work, I go home thankful everyday and there are good people here. You get a lot of education, I mean, you learn
a lot because you have to be kind of the voice for the people that come here. And you have to help them because they don’t
know what you’re talking about so you have to make sure you know what your
talking about to help them.”
I gathered some basic information from
her about Forest Lawn Glendale. She said
that there are several Forest Lawn locations, and there are over 900 employees
throughout the company. The fountain at
the front of Glendale Forest Lawn had to be made smaller due to Los Angeles’
regulations and codes. As a result, the
ducks don’t come around as often as they had in the past. There is a very low turn over rate among the
staff. Very few people actually quit
because they enjoy working for such a great company. Most of the employees, including Elaine, feel
like they are making a difference and that is another reason why so many stay. I also asked her what made Forest Lawn
different than other cemeteries. She
said that most cemeteries don’t have a mortuary but Forest Lawn does. They also have support systems and offer help
to those that have lost their loved ones.
These services are offered before and after the funeral. It is basically a one-stop-shop for all your
funeral needs and more. There are also
several activities that take place yearly, such as a civil war reenactment on
Memorial Day. It is held in honor of a solider
from the Civil War who is buried there. As
far as the number of guests that enter the park on a daily basis, she stated,
“There was a time that we were only second to Disneyland as visitors. It slowed down a bit because it’s hard to get
here. The freeways in California are just
ridiculous. But we want this to be a place where people come to.”
I then asked her some questions that
my classmates suggested I ask during my fieldwork. I inquired about the
gravediggers and what their job entails.
She said that they set up the plot for the burial and then have to fill
the hole once the body is placed in, however, if the family is still at the
grave site the gravediggers have to treat this situation with a little
“finesse”, as Elaine eloquently put it.
The gravedigger must go to the family and explain each step in the
burial process because some of the machines they use to compact the dirt make
loud noises. If the family appears to be
uncomfortable, they will stop the machines and fill the grave with shovels just
to make it easier on the mourners. She has had no experiences with the
supernatural in the cemetery. She has
heard a couple stories about his from employees at other parks, but not at
Forest Lawn Glendale.
The last thing I asked her was if
there was anyway to relate working for Forest Lawn to Anthropology. She said that knowing about all the different
cultures here is extremely important and part of the training process. She gave me one example of a woman who was
enraged about someone littering on a tombstone near where her loved one was
buried. Elaine briskly went over to the
location with the woman and realized that the person was not littering it was a
cultural practice of leaving gifts for the dead. Apparently, in this particular culture, the
family will leave cigarette butts on sticks and pour beer and soda on the grave
and leave the cans there as a gift offering for their loved one to use in the
afterlife. Knowing these things is very
important for employees to understand.
I thanked her for her kindness and
willingness to spend so much time with me.
She assured me that it was her pleasure and she really enjoyed our time
together. We shook hands and she walked
with me to the door. She said if I
needed anything else or needed any more information that she would be more than
willing to talk again. Its no wonder
Forest Lawn is such an amazing place; amazing people are creating this
environment behind the scenes.
Analysis
When comparing my project to the work of
other scholars that have done anthropological research it is interesting to
find a number of similarities. The two
best works I have found to compare my project to are: Walter Benjamin’s “The
Arcades of Paris”(1999) and Marina Peterson’s “Sound, Space, And The
City”(2010). These two works bring a new
spin to looking at my project.
In the book “Sound, Space, And The City”
(2010), Peterson discusses how Los Angeles created a space to unite its diverse
cultures through music. This space is
called the Grand Performances located in the California Plaza. She points out many of the avenues at which
Grand Performances has advertised this location in hopes of sparking the
interests of the surrounding communities.
By having several music and dance artists perform that represent all
different cultures and ages it is the hope of Grand Performances that people
will return to observe other shows that might not be part of their
culture. She noted that many people made
comments that signify the need for more places like this in Los Angeles. Little do they know that a place has already
been created that brings the diverse groups of Los Angeles together, Forest
Lawn Glendale. This social space doesn’t
bring people together through music but through death. Many people from all walks of life gather
together in death. Family and friends of
loved ones all over the park congregate for many social events held at Forest
Lawn such as Easter services and candle lighting services.
Another difference between Grand
Performances and Forest Lawn is that Forest Lawn doesn’t have any advertising. The idea of a “tastemaker” is an audience
development project in which advertising is done by word of mouth (Peterson,
2010:60). This project was put together
on the statistic that over 60 percent of all people who attend Grand
Performances say they heard about it by from someone else. This project never ended up taking off for
Grand Performances but this idea is the reason why Forest Lawn doesn’t have to
do any advertising. The “tastemakers”
are the guests that visit the park daily and share their experience with
others.
While these two spaces have different
functions they serve the same purpose, they unite people from different races,
ages, and genders in one location. While
at these spaces the cultural and gender differences are overlooked for a
time. Both spaces are free to visit,
both spaces provide a form art and both spaces bring people together whom
otherwise might not interact at all.
Walter Benjamin’s article “The Arcades of
Paris” states that “an arcade is like a city, a world in miniature, in which
customers will find everything they need (Benjamin 1927: 873).” The arcades, by today’s standards, can be
compared to beautiful malls where the living can purchase anything they
need. The cemetery Forest Lawn in
Glendale, in contrast, is like a mall for the dead. This cemetery provides customers with
everything they need when they are preparing to die, actually die, and even
help loved ones with grief after their death. By reading this article I have
been able to look at Forest Lawn Memorial from another perspective. It has helped bring to light a part of the
park that I had not put too much focus on.
While I was focusing on the movements of people and the parks many uses,
I had almost forgotten that the main purpose for this place, a final resting
place for the dead. This cemetery is
here because the deceased and their families have paid for them to be here. When you get right down to it, the arcades
and this cemetery exist because these places are trying to sell something, the
target audience is much different but the idea is the same.
Conclusion
I learned a lot from doing this research
project. I learned a lot of history
about Forest Lawn that I had not known prior such as the pure fact that
purchasing a cemetery plot ahead of time was a new idea. In reference to my research topic I learned a
lot about how a cemetery is used as a social space. From my observations cemeteries can be used
as a tourist attraction, a place to watch movies, observing art and history,
finding a date, smoking marijuana, and of course visiting those that have past
on. From Beverly and David Rios I
learned that Forest Lawn has been used as a place to find peace, to get
married, to feed the ducks and get chased by them, and a place to worship
God. From my interview with Elaine
Williams I learned that Forest Lawn is a one-stop-shop for all your burial
needs and helping loved ones recover afterward.
They hold special activities for the community such as civil war
reenactments on Memorial Day. She has
observed daily visitors, walkers, bikers, and many more activities that were
most don’t think about when visiting a cemetery.
Death is a part of life; rich, poor,
famous, or nameless, no one can escape it.
It is important to not fear the unknown, cemeteries are not scary; they
can be fun. It is amazing to me to see
that Forest Lawn has not changed much at all since my early youth. The pond is a bit smaller due to health codes
and water preservation, new graves are obviously added on a consistent basis,
yet the smell of the park and the peace that I get remains the same. While my project may not focus on a social
space that is specifically important to youth in L.A., memories from my
childhood provide the initial clues in understanding how diverse spaces
contribute to public life in a city. Beverly Rios continues to visit this space
because she was introduced to it when she was four years old and fell in
love. I continue to visit this space
because I came to Forest Lawn often as a youth and this space brings me peace. When we think of public spaces most think of
plazas, parks and malls yet cemeteries should be included on this list. There
is much more research that can be done concerning cemeteries and how they are
used as social spaces, particularly at Forest Lawn Glendale, however I feel
that this is a good start.
Work Cited
Benjamin,
Walter, 1999, “The Arcades of Paris” in The Arcades Project. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard
University Press. Pp. 873-44
Kath,
Laura, 2006, Forest Lawn The First 100 Years. Bozeman, MT:
Red Bird Publishing.
Low,
Setha, 2000, On the Plaza: The Politics of Public Space and Culture.
Austin, TX: Texas University Press.
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