The National Museum of Funeral History, Houston

Several weeks ago I visited one of the hidden gems in Houston: the National Museum of Funeral History. Despite its gloomy subject matter, the museum had some of the best exhibits I have ever seen. During the visit, I had the unique opportunity to learn the traditional burial rituals of the United States presidents and Catholic popes, discover the secrets of mummification and cremation, view a variety of animal caskets and hearses from around the world, and reflect upon the life and times of celebrities, heroes, and dutiful public servants. According to an information brochure, the museum has 30,500 square feet of exhibit space (the largest collection of authentic historical funeral service items in the United States), and I am very glad to have spent more than two hours in there, observing all the artifacts they had. The museum staff displayed fantastic customer service, and I felt welcomed from the beginning. In sum, the National Museum of Funeral History is an excellent treasure trove of culture, afterlife antiques, and the undiscussed history of the funeral service industry. I took many photographs of the exhibits; I have put some below w/ captions.

The museum had an exhibit on actors and actresses who had a tremendous impact on Hollywood and USA culture. Robin Williams (and the shoes he wore from the movie RV) were featured as well as Meinhardt Frank Raabe, the munchkin coroner from The Wizard of Oz and Oscar Mayer businessman. You will see photographs and biographic captions of actors from the Wild West movie genre (including the famous Alamo star John Wayne) in the exhibit above. (photograph by author)

Caskets are usually made out of wood, and the museum had a fine rendition of an early twentieth-century workshop. Wood-makers must have made a lot of money during the Victorian and World War I Eras when many died of disease and warfare. This exhibit was living history; since you heard the sounds of laborers chopping wood, you felt like you were actually there with the carpenters. (photograph by author)

9/11/2001 was a terrible day for the United States... a group of terrorists hijacked 4 commercial airplanes, all of which crashed into the NY World Trade Center, Pentagon, and a field in PA, killing over 2,700 people. This event changed the modern world and sparked the western invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. Although my students were not yet alive, I still teach the importance of understanding 9/11 and why we should always remember this tragic event. The museum had a neat exhibit on the first responders who perished on that fateful day, putting themselves on the front lines in the face of danger to save many civilians. Hundreds of New York and D.C. firefighters, police workers, and emergency personnel died on 9/11/2001, leaving many families devastated. Photographed is one of the caskets created for a fallen New York firefighter. (photograph by author) 

This 1832 hearse is believed to be one of the oldest hearses in the United States (it was donated to the museum in 1996). According to records, the black hearse that is photographed was purchased by the town of Cambridgeport, Vermont, and frequently used during funerals. The hearse was last used in 1926 and stored at the town's congregational church until it was fully restored several decades later. During the winters, the hearse's wheels were removed and a pair of sleighs were bolted on... I wonder what it was like to drive this hearse in the snow?! (photograph by author)

I recall reading about the Egyptian mummies in elementary school, so I was pleased when I found out that the museum had a small exhibit on Egyptian death and burials. Long ago, Egyptians would preserve their Kings' and Queens' vital organs and wrap the deceased bodies in cloth. The mummies would then be transported up the River Nile to the tombs and pyramids, and buried among the possessions (including chariots) that monarch had in their life. One of the famous Egyptian Pharaohs whose tomb was discovered in the twentieth century was Tutankhamun. (photograph by author)

After learning about the life of Pope John Paul II, I was treated to a wax-figure representation of the Pope's lying in state ceremony in the Vatican (this was one of the largest gatherings of heads of state in all time). Here, he was surrounded by the Vatican Guard and propped up by 3 red pillows. The body was blessed by the Cardinals and Bishops, who repeated ancient Greek prayers. His Eminence Edward Michael Cardinal Egan led the prayers. The body of Pope John Paul II was buried in a tomb underneath St. Peter's Basilica. John Paul II would later become an ordained saint by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011. (photograph by author)

The curators at the funeral museum have done a fantastic job at compiling religious artifacts and creating a wonderful exhibit on the history of Pope funerals. The Pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church and resides in Vatican City, one of the smallest countries in the world. A wax figure of John Paul II, a Polish priest who was elevated to the Pope position in 1978, is pictured. I learned that when a Pope dies, their ceremonial Ring of the Fisherman is crushed, the private bedroom and quarters are sealed off, and the Cardinals of the world are summoned to the Vatican to start deliberations on the successor. Since John Paul II died in 2005, these rites of passage were performed during that year. (photograph by author)

The museum had a variety of funeral hearses in their collection. The hearse, originally a horse and carriage, is the vehicle used to carry the deceased from the church to the burial site. The hearse in this photograph is an early twentieth-century automobile from Britain. I also enjoyed discovering the history of the hearse in Asian countries, including in Japan and China. (photograph by author)

A casket is usually a rectangular-shaped box that the dead's body/cremated remains are put into before burial. Yet, there have been many different casket looks throughout history... including caskets which are shaped like a fish, crab, centipede, and chicken -- see photograph above. It was funny to see different incarnations of the casket. Cow, plane, car caskets not pictured. (photograph by author)

I was amazed at the vibrant Day of the Dead exhibit at the museum (seen above). A majority of Hispanics partake in a colorful and religious celebration every Halloween called Día de los Muertos. During these festivities, when it is believed that the dead return to visit the living, ancestors are honored through home memory tables/alters and redecorated gravesites in cemeteries. The memory tables are typically decorated with artificial flowers, photographs of the deceased, personal items, breads, candles, and the food and drink the departed enjoyed during their time on Earth. (photograph by author)

One of my favorite exhibits at the museum was a human-scale model of Abraham Lincoln's corpse and casket. Lincoln, the Great Emancipator and our 16th president, was assassinated by actor John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865, just days after the end of the bloody Civil War. After Lincoln died, his body was put on display in the East Room in the White House before making the railroad trip to Springfield, IL. The museum also had a photographic collage of Lincoln's changing face during the war (where the former Illinois attorney considerably aged) as well as a model of the single shot 44-caliber Derringer that Booth used to fatally shoot one of our greatest presidents. (photograph by author)

The museum also had a rich collection of newspapers detailing presidents' deaths. Franklin D. Roosevelt, president during the Great Depression and World War II, suddenly died on April 12, 1945, a few weeks prior to the end of the bloodiest war in world history. FDR, who was a chain-smoker and suffered from several illnesses in the years leading up to his death, is best remembered for being the architect of the New Deal and the only president to date to get elected to the Oval Office 4x. This photograph shows FDR's death on the front page of The Houston Chronicle on April 12, 1945. (photograph by author)

I can distinctly remember watching the funeral of President George H.W. Bush on TV in December 2018. Bush, who had been Reagan's VP and later successor, will be remembered in American history as a seasoned politician and dedicated public servant. The museum had a model of Bush's funeral train (the president would be laid to rest at his presidential library in College Station) as well as artifacts from the Bush family private collection, including one of H.W.'s colorful socks. (photograph by author)

The museum had several funeral hearses, including the official 2003 Presidential Funeral Hearse that carried Presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford from the services to their final resting places. So much history!! (photograph by author)

Carrie Nation in Commerce, TX

My APUSH students have recently been discussing the Age of Reform in the build-up to the Civil War, including the Temperance Crusade and the Women's Rights Movement. When young women grew tired of their drunk, abusive husbands spending the family money on alcohol, they spoke up and demanded a stop to the selling/producing of liquor and spirits. This crusade would later lead to Prohibition (a topic noted in this blog post). On the other hand, the Women's Rights Movement (one of the first feminist crusades in the United States) brewed when women were very dissatisfied with male-led institutions (including schools) and desired to have a voice to make changes that would impact their communities. These social movements gradually picked up steam following the Civil War, and defined the twentieth-century Progressive Era in American history. Keeping with this theme of reform, I stumbled upon some interesting facts on Carrie Nation.

Carrie Nation was usually known to wield a hatchet, but she did not carry such a scary instrument when she lectured the youth at East Texas Normal College on March 31, 1905. (Britannica.com)

Carrie Nation, a Kentucky native, was an outspoken supporter of the Temperance Crusade. She created a local chapter of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in Medicine Lodge, Kansas in the 1880s. Nation was often known to be a violent agitator, throwing rocks at the windows of the local taverns while singing a sweet melody, and wielding an infamous hatchet. Between 1900 and 1910, she was arrested more than 30 times for "hatchetations", threatening alcoholics at the pubs. Nation paid her jail fines from the fees she gathered for her lecture tours across the nation during the early 1900s. Since Etta Mayo, a professor of music at East Texas Normal College, was heavily invested in the Women's Rights Movement and Temperance Crusade, Nation was invited to speak on the campus in Commerce in 1905. Mrs. Mayo believed that Nation would "fix" the alcoholics since Commerce was home to an alarming number of saloons. In a letter, librarian Catherine Opal Williams quotes from a letter written by Gladys Mayo, Etta's daughter: "Saloons were numerous in the little town of Commerce...They presented a problem to a growing town with a college. My mother appealed to Francis E. Willard, director of the Temperance Movement in the United States for advice. Their correspondence lent hope and inspiration to my parents and to the towns-women...She [Carrie Nation] must have come to Commerce upon my mother's invitation, and for some time she made her Texas headquarters in our dormitory."

Etta Mayo was the wife of William L. Mayo, founder and inaugural president of East Texas Normal College in Commerce. Etta was a music professor at the institution. (Author's Collections)

Nation's lecture on the dangers of alcohol was well-received among the faculty and student body at East Texas Normal College (and she did not carry her frightening hatchet!). A review in the Commerce Journal of Nation's talk displays the success of this program and her unusual demeanor: "Tuesday morning the students at East Texas Normal College had the privilege of listening to a woman of almost world renown...Instead of a harsh, raving speaker, the idea many have of her, Mrs. Nation is a cool, calm, logical, yet eloquent speaker. After being introduced by Professor [William L.] Mayo, Mrs. Nation began her lecture, which was greatly appreciated by the students...'Purify the home, bring the child up in a Christian way, and that child will kill liquor in the United States,' she says, 'We must have a national prohibition of the liquor curse, making it a crime to manufacture, barter, sell, or give away that which causes 3/4 of all crime, murdering a hundred thousand every year.'"

Prohibition activists, c. 1920. (BBC News)

Nation's strong rhetoric propelled the Temperance Crusade and encouraged many to join the movement. After many decades of meetings, marches, and propaganda outreach, the United States Congress outlawed the production, purchase, and selling of alcoholic beverages by passing the 18th Amendment (1920). The mission of the Temperance advocates was accomplished, yet the majority of Americans missed their drink and began to produce and smuggle alcohol in secret (this was the age of gangsters and speakeasies). Eventually, Congress repealed its original Prohibition act by passing the 21st Amendment in 1933. Such a small, yet golden nugget in the university's history and Commerce's story.

"We Are One" APUSH Project 2021

My AP US History students recently completed a massive project, titled "We Are One". Since we are currently learning about the United States' period of exponential economic and cultural growth at the start of the nineteenth century, it was fitting for APUSH students at Coppell High School to research various historical characters, professions, and events during that era (aka the 'Developing Republic' period) and create a final product that resembled an artifact from that time. Additionally, this content-loaded project provided a unique opportunity for students to showcase their hidden talents, creativity, and imagination. For example, several of my students (whose personalities involves 'body' and 'social' traits) took on the roles of a early-1800s chef - they researched a variety of immigrant (German, Irish, French) and regional-typed (Southern, New England, African) foods, selected a dish to cook, created a Food Network-quality cooking video, and presented their hot or cold products to classmates (I thoroughly enjoyed sampling the treats my students made, which included Louisiana-style gumbo, crab cakes, Southern cheesecake, New England clam chowder, and German-inspired chocolate mousse). A group of my students showed me their fascinating artistic skills by drawing/painting portraits of American landscapes - they researched the famous Hudson River School. These beautiful paintings are now on my classroom walls. I had one of my students sew an Antebellum dress - it was an amazing product! Other roles that students selected during this project included physical geographer, political strategist/analyst, writer, inventor, social activist, and musician. Students who desire to become an attorney in their futures were given the choice to research one of the many landmark Supreme Court cases during this period and host a Supreme Court trial (including Worcester v. Georgia and the non-existent Aaron Burr Trial - did he deserve to be imprisoned or punished after Alexander Hamilton was killed?). The students, in the drivers' seats throughout this UDL (Universal Design Learning) project worked very hard on their creations, and their creativity shined bright on the day of presentations. My students (armed with appropriate props and dressed in 1800s costumes) presented their final products with much enthusiasm to their colleagues in the other APUSH classes. The levels of excitement for this project brought a smile to my face and happy tears to my eyes - at the end of the day, the students showed me talent, perseverance, and a sense of enjoyment in learning United States history. I was incredibly proud of them, and I can not wait to continue assigning the "We Are One" project in future years. After the presentations, students were asked to write a reflection and answer an essential question: how did their product/person of research contribute to American identity during the Developing Republic period? I am incredibly lucky and very blessed to have a great job where I get to give younglings various opportunities to grow as artists and performers. Some images of my students and their WAO creations are found below.

Nandini was a photographer for the WAO project. Photography was in its infancy in the early-1800s (you had to sit in front of a camera, motionless for many moons before the flash was activated and picture was taken!). Nandini learned a lot about Matthew Brady, one of the first photographers in the United States, and created black-and-white portraits that mimicked Brady's style.

Arman, a member of Coppell High's award-winning band, researched various types of music during the Jacksonian Era and then performed these songs on his trombone. The live music performances were excellent and contributed to the excitement of our huge WAO festivities.

May has always been interested in sewing and approached me with a fantastic idea - instead of painting, she would sew. She created a glamorous Antebellum-era dress that was the type of clothes many Southern ladies wore during lavish house gatherings. Principal Springer was very impressed at May's effort. I was very proud of her hard work ethic (the dress took 14+ hours to complete!).

Raj was a physical geographer, examining America's drastic westward expansion during the Developing Republic period - Manifest Destiny! In addition to his triboard, Raj also created a 'dart game' for his audience to play after his creative presentation.

Nivi was an enthusiastic political activist during the WAO project, standing on a box and making an emotional speech on why her audience should vote for Andrew Jackson (president for the "Common Man"), instead of "old man" John Quincy Adams. Students also had the option on being political strategists and analyzing nineteenth-century political cartoons. 

Jack, star-football quarterback at the high school, loves to cook and made New England crab cakes. During the presentations, he showcased his tasty food and discussed the history of Northern cuisine.

Mariana enjoyed researching the lives and stories of Edgar Allen Poe, Herman Melville, and Walt Whitman, among others. Mariana wrote her own short stories based on the authors' writing styles, and presented her work to classmates. Her creative stories were fantastic and filled with imagery!

Anuja was an artist during the WAO project. She had to research the Hudson River School, a group of artisans who painted beautiful landscapes of America. Anuja painted the geographic features of the West.

Paulo took on the role of the nineteenth-century inventor, researched Robert Fulton and created a working model of the steamboat. The steamboat drastically improved passenger travel and cotton trade in the United States during this period, especially on the Mississippi River.

Hiba was a social activist and researched Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott during the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention. She also made buttons and convinced her audience to join the women's rights movement. She had my vote!