Abstract
This qualitative case study highlights the work of university students who participated in a service learning component of a sociological research methods course. Their complete documentation and analysis of all 477 gravestones in the abandoned Crooked Creek cemetery provide a cultural snapshot of life in the Western frontier in the 1800s. In contrast to existing literature on the analysis of gender indicators on gravestones, this study finds significant evidence that gender was related to social identity and that indicators of master status exist for both women and men. Furthermore, the significant role of women in the development of a pioneer village is represented in the epitaphs chosen by a woman’s surviving family members. The findings attempt to dispel assumptions that the use of terms such as “wife” and “mother” on gravestones of the period exemplified the lower status of women in relation to men. Implications for genealogical research include rethinking the way researchers consider the role of wife and mother to write more historically situated narratives of family and community histories.
Highlights
A cemetery can hold a vast amount of knowledge about a family, genealogy, changing religious and social beliefs, a family’s occupational background, and their significance to a community.The sociological studies of cemeteries have been significant in establishing relationships between individuals and their societies
It is the study of gender as a master status engraved on gravestone in the Crooked Creek cemetery
No common month of conception emerged with any statistical significance; gendered patterns emerged from the data and appeared to be significant
Summary
A cemetery can hold a vast amount of knowledge about a family, genealogy, changing religious and social beliefs, a family’s occupational background, and their significance to a community.The sociological studies of cemeteries have been significant in establishing relationships between individuals and their societies. This article describes a case study conducted in a service learning course by sociology students at a small liberal arts university in rural Ohio. It is the study of gender as a master status engraved on gravestone in the Crooked Creek cemetery. The records produced by the students and their professor became a valuable resource, which they gave to the genealogical society and the local community library. Research such as this is imperative for historic preservation and the documentation of lives and lineage (Layder 1998)
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