Date of Award

8-2025

Degree Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

School

Social Science and Global Studies

Committee Chair

Marie Danforth

Committee Chair School

Social Science and Global Studies

Committee Member 2

Sharon Young

Committee Member 2 School

Social Science and Global Studies

Committee Member 3

Bridget Hayden

Committee Member 3 School

Social Science and Global Studies

Abstract

Cypress Grove Cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana was established in 1840 by the Firemen’s Charitable and Benevolent Association. The purpose of this thesis was to present osteobiographies from the remains and mortuary artifacts recovered from two late 19th century wall vault that were being taken down due to their crumbling condition. Through this, further information on the lives of those living at the turn of the century was explored.

Among the two vaults excavated, the remains of eight individuals. The single burial vault contained the remains of an adult male later identified as a volunteer firemen; no items of mortuary context were present. The commingled vault contained the remains of three adults (one male and two females) and four children. One female identified as of African or mixed ancestry showed trauma to the ribs, a shortened tibia, and poor dental health. The other female had a set of partial upper dentures. All of the children died before the age of five, likely from infectious disease since none showed indicators of trauma or pathology.

These findings as well as the associated mortuary artifacts, including coffin hardware and religious items, suggest that the interred individuals likely were part of the middle-class in New Orleans in the late 1800s, except for the one female who was likely a well-loved servant buried with the family. Childhood mortality was high, but those who survived to adulthood showed relatively few pathological indicators and generally lived to middle age.

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