Episode 6: Awe, Part 4

Update: 2020-06-15

Description

In this, the final installment of Episode 6, we discuss the various ways the new, emotionally expressive culture around grief and death that had developed in turn-of-the-19th-century New England began to play out. We see themes of transcendence and ascension (into heaven) get very popular between the 1790s-1810s. And its not just gravestone motif design but also in folk art and mourning jewelry that begin to reflect these social changes. We talk to licensed gemologist and historical jewelry specialist, Nicholle Mogavero, who shares her knowledge about mourning jewelry and the parallels in imagery used in jewelry design with what we see in gravestone motifs of the same time.

And finally, we tackle the two big questions about Relief Wilcox Town’s gravestone, with its unique broken willow, moon-soul effigy/spray of stars and the focal point of empty space: does this design reflect something specific about Relief and her life/death and who carved this amazing piece of art?

And we talk about spreadsheets. It gets real nerdy, real fast. (Hmm, that really seems like a buried lead, doesn’t it?)