Iowa I Opener: Amana cemeteries

Like their churches, the Inspirationalists' cemeteries in the Amana Colonies are expressions in humility. The deceased are interred not with family members--but are laid to rest in the order of their passing.

The memorials are made from concrete, not granite.

Humility.

The gravestones are for the most part uniform, although some veterans, for example Arthur W. Selzer, are buried with the familiar military memorials.

Amana cemeteries are situated among pine tree hedges--the evergreens being viewed as a symbol of eternal life. The gravestones face east--because the Inspirationalists believe that the second coming of Jesus will be in the east. Until the 1930s, the tombstones of suicide victims were buried in a separate section of the cemetery and faced west. The grave markers of children and non-Inspirationalists are still buried in a different part of the cemetery.

The photographs were taken in Homestead and South Amana.

Next: Amana appliances

Related cemetery posts:

Hume Cemetery
The Skokie cemetery where Baby Face Nelson's body was dumped
Gravesite of a veteran of Custer's 7th Cavalry
Memorial Day--a time to remember
My Mississippi Manifest Destiny: Shiloh Part Two

Earlier posts:

Amana Millrace and the woolen mill
Amana Colonies overview
Anamosa State Penitentiary Cemetery
More about Stone City and Grant Wood
Stone City and Grant Wood
Where North Avenue ends

Field of Dreams
Guttenberg and its pool
A final look at Effigy Mounds National Monument
More Effigy Mounds
Effigy Mounds National Monument
Freedom Rock and Veterans Day
Pikes Peak
Buffalo Bill



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