Is respect for the dead universal? Should the Catacombs still be a tourist attraction? In this episode of Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery, Jennie and Dianne are joined again by Ryan Seidemann to explore death and remembrance through a cross-cultural lens. Drawing from Ryan's Arizona State University course "Death and Dying in…
This week, our favorite forensic anthropologist Ryan Seidemann joins us to discuss his Ordinary Extraordinary role in one of the first repatriations of its kind in the United States. In 1871-1872, nineteen men and women of African descent died at New Orleans' Charity Hospital. What happened next should never have…
This week on the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery, Jennie and Dianne are joined by guest host Ryan Seidemann to discuss thoughtful questions from his summer semester students at Arizona State University. This conversation is especially timely following recent reports of a historic cemetery being disturbed in Hickman County, Tennessee, a case…
Jennie here. This past Saturday (August 22nd) I had the honor to once again portray a woman of the past at the 37th annual Central City Cemetery Crawl (Colorado). This year's crawl took place at Bald Mountain Cemetery where I shared the story of Reverend John Stocks (1829-1886) through the…
This week on the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast, Jennie and Dianne discuss three recent cases involving historic cemeteries and preservation. In Pennsylvania, a man is facing hundreds of charges related to alleged thefts from Mount Moriah Cemetery, a historic burial ground, and at least two other cemeteries in nearby counties.…
72 years ago, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League played its final game. Yesterday, women's professional baseball returned with the inaugural game of the Women's Pro Baseball League. On this episode of the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery, you'll meet Margaret "Marge" and Helen Callaghan: Vancouver sisters, Boeing war workers, and the…
This week on the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast, inquiring minds want to know if sea burials of the past were just as solemn and religious as those on land, why post-mortem photos taken in the past were considered more respectable than in today's modern society, could cremated ashes added to…
You’re walking through a 170-year-old cemetery and find a tombstone that’s… a desk? Welcome to Wyuka Cemetery in Nebraska City. The city itself was founded in 1855 after the U.S. Army abandoned Fort Kearny just eight years earlier. Thanks to its spot on the Missouri River, it became a boomtown…
Happy belated Flag Day! On this week’s Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast, Dianne and Jennie are honoring the women behind the American flag. You know Betsy Ross, but do you know Mary Pickersgill and Grace Wisher? Did Betsy Ross really make the first flag? And why does she have three possible…
In the previous episode of the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast (#281), Dianne and Jennie explored Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts and some of its most visited monuments including one often called, "The Boy in the Boat" which marks the grave of little Louis Mieusset. We shared the common story…
This past Monday, men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice were remembered in Memorial Day tributes across the United States, and on this episode of the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast Dianne and Jennie chat with Ryan Seidemann who returns for the latest "Death and Dying 101" segment with questions…
This week, Jennie interviews author Daniel Grace about "In the Wake of Golgotha", a novel where Judas and Pontius Pilate live again in modern New York. Their story begins at Golgotha, also known as Calvary Hill, the site of history’s most famous death, where one execution sparked a new faith…
Thirty years after her death, Erma Bombeck is still the patron saint of moms everywhere so it felt only fitting to celebrate her life and legacy with Mother's Day just around the corner. She wrote the messy, hilarious, heartwarming truth about marriage and motherhood before it was a hashtag. "I…
This week on the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery, Jennie and Dianne are joined by one of their favorite living historians MJ Henion, to unravel a Civil War mystery that still haunts historians today. Meet Brigadier General Richard B. Garnett, a Confederate officer whose story ends at Pickett’s Charge… or does it?…
