Buried Long Island

The world as we know it today was made by the individuals who rest in our burial grounds. On Long Island, the cultural landscape is marked by resting places that reflect the history of the land, and the groups of people who called it home. Like every other region of America, Long Island has an indigenous history, a colonial history, and a legacy of social stratification and inequality that is showcased in historical burial grounds all over the island. Every surviving burial ground is a physical representation of families who lived, worked, and existed on the same ground that we now call home. Epitaphs of devotion and sorrow represent love felt just as strongly as we feel it today, and loss just as biting as our losses. This photographic collection showcases the full scope of historical Long Island funeral practices during the colonial and early American period, from elaborately carved headstones imported and installed before the United States gained independence, to the modest fieldstone markers of individuals whose names are lost. This book is a celebration of the ways in which the past inhabitants of Long Island have honored their dead, and a recognition of how our history rests in our graveyards.