Cemetery publications

Here to Stay is a broad and compelling look into the lives of past residents of Macomb and McDonough County—presenting the most varied array of small-town folks since Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology appeared a century ago. But it is much more. The introduction on “Living with the Dead” is an engaging account of both the impact of death in a nineteenth-century town and the social purposes of cemeteries like Macomb’s beautiful Oakwood. The biographical sketches of the buried “Permanent Residents” reflect every generation in that corner of America since the first settlers came, in 1830, emphasizing such universal themes as self-realization, social commitment, and the struggle to belong. The four insightful essays in the  “Theatre of Memory” section probe into and defend cemeteries as complex cultural sites, which deserve our reflective engagement, historical appreciation, and vigilant preservation. The many arresting photographs by Kathy Nichols demonstrate the aesthetic appeal—and suggest the hidden mysteries—of such an historic cemetery as well.

Price for members      $12.95 plus $1.00 tax. and      $2.50 shipping.

      Total $16.45

That discount price for the $19.00 book also includes a $3.00 donation to Friends of Oakwood Cemetery.

Please make checks payable to Illinois Heritage Press and send them to the following address:

Illinois Heritage Press

P.O. Box 883

Macomb, IL 61455

Book and membership checks may be sent to the same P.O. Box.