I am Dr. Kami Fletcher, historian, death scholar, consultant to the southern plantation. and President of the Collective for Radical Death Studies. Presently, I am the Associate Professor of American & African American history at Albright College. I am also Co-Director of the Women's & Gender Studies Program there.
In addition, I am a consultant to the southern plantation hired to 1) research and write a more complex history involving servitude and resistance; black communities and white slaveholders; and white power dynamics and race/gender relations. 2) help to comprehend a slave burial ground on site.
As a death scholar, my research focuses on a) Maryland burial grounds were blacks were primarily interred, b) black female death work, c) 19th and 20th century black undertakers . My specific research areas are the following
My research on burial grounds and death ideology yields very important work that brings attention to African American material culture, i.e. lived experiences with the institution of slavery - stories of survival, resistance, and humanity. I would love to hear from anyone interested in acquiring my services to help them write histories of these forgotten sites.
My first research project centers on the oldest Black burial ground in Maryland, Mount Auburn Cemetery, founded by Blacks for the purpose of a proper and autonomous burial free from white control. Currently, I am writing a book on Mount Auburn Cemetery and would love to hear from anyone interested in helping with this process. Read more about this project in the Research/Publications section.
In addition, I am a consultant to the southern plantation hired to 1) research and write a more complex history involving servitude and resistance; black communities and white slaveholders; and white power dynamics and race/gender relations. 2) help to comprehend a slave burial ground on site.
As a death scholar, my research focuses on a) Maryland burial grounds were blacks were primarily interred, b) black female death work, c) 19th and 20th century black undertakers . My specific research areas are the following
- burial grounds where Blacks were interred in antebellum Maryland;
- the burial rights of Blacks from colonial Maryland through 1865;
- African American death ideology in antebellum Maryland
- late 19th century to early 20th century Black male and female undertakers in Maryland
My research on burial grounds and death ideology yields very important work that brings attention to African American material culture, i.e. lived experiences with the institution of slavery - stories of survival, resistance, and humanity. I would love to hear from anyone interested in acquiring my services to help them write histories of these forgotten sites.
My first research project centers on the oldest Black burial ground in Maryland, Mount Auburn Cemetery, founded by Blacks for the purpose of a proper and autonomous burial free from white control. Currently, I am writing a book on Mount Auburn Cemetery and would love to hear from anyone interested in helping with this process. Read more about this project in the Research/Publications section.