Being Buried Alive: The Fear That Swept 19th Century America
Being Buried Alive: The Fear That Swept 19th Century America
The line dividing life from death was not clearly defined in the 1800’s. In the rush to bury a corpse quickly, before contagious disease could spread, people who were comatose, catatonic, sedated, or just plain drunk were sometimes mistaken for dead. Factual and fictional accounts of unfortunate souls awakening in their coffin, combined with medical disagreements about how to test definitively for absence of life, created widespread panic and led to imaginative inventions for preventing premature burial.
About the Speaker:
Margaret Opsata is an award-winning writer and editor in love with language. She has over 30 years of experience writing and editing articles for magazines in fields like personal finance, retail marketing, and historic preservation. She also has taught English as Wilmington University and the Terry Campus of Delaware Technical Community College.
This lecture is being funded by the Delaware Humanities.
- Date:
- Wednesday, April 24, 2024
- Time:
- 6:00pm - 7:00pm Eastern Time
- Location:
- Upstairs Meeting Room
- Library:
- Rehoboth Beach Public Library
- Audience:
- Adults Older Adults
- Categories:
- History and Genealogy