MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

Riverview Cemetery, like many cemeteries established in the nineteenth century, set aside burial space designated as “Strangers Rest.” Comprised of single graves, those interred in two sites were neither transients nor paupers, but rather individuals without family members in larger lots where they could be buried, many of them members of large ethnic populations attracted by the industrialization of the city. Among the least expensive spaces in the cemetery, they were poorly documented and largely unmarked.

Drawing on scant records that include interment cards, burial permits, death notices, and newspaper articles, this illustrated paper will describe efforts to document the individuals interred in “Strangers Rest.”