The Retreat of Death: Changing Views of Death and Dying in Nineteenth Century America, via Zoom, with Fr. W. Patrick Edwards

As life expectancy changed, as medicine improved, as wars became deadlier, as incomes increased and classism moderated, how did Americans’ views on and reactions to death evolve. In this lively presentation (pun intended), we will explore the shifting views and experiences of death, dying, and mortality in the United States throughout the pivotal period of the nineteenth century. The expectations of longevity, the sense of mourning and loss, and the ways in which life and understanding of afterlife were affected by changes in the health, medicine, war, and dying of the period.

Register: Online at www.southamptonhistory.org/calendar.