Library of Congress Releases COVID-19 Recollections: Interviews with 19 Deathcare Professionals

On July 2, the American Folklife Center at the U.S. Library of Congress released “Reflections on the COVID-19 Pandemic from Last Responders,” a series of videos documenting the role of deathcare professionals during the pandemic. The series includes interviews with 19 funeral directors, embalmers, funeral home owners, educators, and other deathcare workers of various generations and career lengths from across the country.

With funding through the American Folklife Center, whose mission is to “‘preserve and present’ folklife in all its diversity,” a team of interviewers from Gran Enterprises, LLC (two of whom are licensed funeral directors) visited funeral homes throughout 2023 and 2024. Their goal was to “illuminate the incredible task of after-life care during the pandemic, the solutions that funeral workers created to adapt their work to COVID-19, and the many aspects of labor — physical, mental, and spiritual — that funeral workers undertook during this tumultuous period in United States history.”

The 19 deathcare professionals who were interviewed for the series are:

• Lance Arnold of Arnold Family Funeral Services in Altadena, California
• Robert Barnes of Elite Life Celebrations by Barnes & Co. in Houston, Texas
• Jimmie D. Boldien of Rolfe Funeral Home in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Dr. Hari P. Close, II of Hari P. Close Funeral Service, P.A. in Baltimore, Maryland
• Carlton C. Douglass of Carlton C. Douglass Funeral Services in Baltimore, Maryland
• Shawn’te Harvell of Smith Funeral Home in Elizabeth, New Jersey
• William “Bill” Harris of William C. Harris Funeral Directors and Cremation in St. Louis, Missouri
• Billie Watson Hughes of Bianchi Funeral Service in Washington, D.C.
• Jerri J. Reed-Taylor of Leak & Sons Funeral Homes in Chicago, Illinois
• Tryphina Wiseman of Wiseman Mortuary in Fayetteville, North Carolina
• Kari Northey, freelance licensed funeral director in Kalamazoo, Michigan
• Breanna Williams of Meadowlawn Funeral Home and Allen Dave Funeral Home & Cremation Tribute Center in San Antonio, Texas
• Karoline Davidson, formerly of Gilbert Memorial Park in Gilbert, Arizona
• Chelsea Cush of Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Faith Haug of Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, Colorado
• Shannan Guillory of Prism Memorial in Los Angeles, California
• Jozie Hickman of Herman Funeral Homes in Tiffin, Ohio
• Dr. Jennifer Lares of Mulling Mortician in Texas
• William Turner Heath of End of Life Psychedelic Care in Gainesville, Florida

These interviewees share an interesting array of pandemic-era deathcare experiences, including the impact of COVID on funeral service restrictions, the devastating psychological effects of the pandemic, its disproportionate impact on Black communities, the complications of grief, and how they handled special cases, including the COVID-related deaths of their own loved ones, those in the healthcare profession, and multiple members of one family. The series definitely achieves its goal to call much-needed attention to the unsung heroes of the pandemic — the last responders.

“Last Responders” is the third collection of videos to be released online by the American Folklife Center as part of the COVID-19 American History Project. The first of the two series features 20 interviews with New Orleans-area service and hospitality workers while the second offers 25 interviews with rural, female, Appalachian childcare providers.

Photo from LOC blog press release: “Anita Grant, of Gran Enterprises, interviewing Shawn’te Harvell (LE/LFD, CFSP) in Atlanta, Georgia in October 2023, about his COVID-19 experiences as manager of the Smith Funeral Home in Elizabeth, New Jersey for the COVID-19 American History Project.”