The Associational Impulse

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CHAPTER 11

• The Associational Impulse

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Introduction

• Associational Activity
• The gathering together and organizing of
  significant numbers of people around a limited
  set of interests and objectives.
• Problems and Growth
• It is the problems of the formal organization of
  funeral directors into various limited-objective
  types of associations, growth, prosperity, issues
  and changing forms and functions that gave the
  modern funeral director his form, but not without
  bumps and bruises along the way.

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Background

• Occupational Organizations
• A creation of the 19th century.
• Purpose of the trade organization was to define
  and help attain the interests of the businessmen.
• Professional Associations sought to
• Formulate standards
• Control membership and enforce an inspectional
  system
• Ensure clienteles of high personal character and
  good moral standards of members.

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Background

• The Funeral establishments themselves were often
  patterned after guilds
• The Master
• Journeyman
• Apprentice
• This was the most common internal relationship
  found in the industry in the 19th Century.
• To assist in attaining their needs, two
  instruments have been implemented
• Use of educational prerequisites and training
  institutions
• The development of regulatory processes police
  powers.

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The Sanitary Report

• Sociocultural Movements
• The General Health Movement
• Launched in 1850 by the Report of the
  Massachusetts Sanitary Commission
• The report recommended
• a sanitary police
• state and local health departments
• collection and analysis of vital statistics
• In 1878 Congress established a National Board of
  Health.

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Cremation in America

• The Cremation movement
• Between 1881 and 1885 a number of cremation
  societies were organized and were entirely
  educational.
• They had very little success.
• In 1884 there was one crematory in the entire
  country.
• Between 1876 and 1884 there were 41 cremations in
  America.
• In the next 5 years there were 731.
• The total number of cremations for the 5 years
  preceding 1894 was 2,898

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Cremation in America

• The Cremation movement
• Flame Burial was later accepted as a legitimate
  form of burial.
• In San Francisco, the Cremation Society was
  originated by a group of German Freethinkers.
• Cremation began to be more widely accepted and
  written about during the period between 1884 to
  1889.(61 pieces of literature were written.)
• But, by the 1904-1908 period the enamorment of
  cremation had dwindled. (very little info on
  cremation being written, dropped to 4 pieces
  written.)

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Cremation in America

• The Cremation movement
• In 1913 the initial meeting of the Cremation
  Association of America met in Detroit. Those in
  attendance were the owners and operators of the
  40 and Some odd crematories in operation at the
  time.
• Hugo Erickson was elected the first president of
  the C.A.A.
• His first remarks to his fledgling organization
• emphasized reform
• Every Cremationist must be a missionary for the
  cause, and embrace every suitable occasion to
  spread its gospel, the glad tidings of a more
  Sanitary and more aesthetic method of disposing
  of air beloved dead.

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19th Century Associational Development Among
F.D.s

• Origins and early developments
• Undertakers Mutual Protective Association of
  Philadelphia.
• They were the first formal organization of
  undertakers formed in January 1864.
• Their purpose- the held a black book of
  delinquent customers.
• Chicago Undertaker Association.
• Established in 1868 for mutual protection,
  dispensing information and setting preliminary
  standards for operation of their trade.

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National Funeral Directors Association

• Allen Durfee was a Grand Rapids, MI undertaker.
• He organized the first state association meeting
  in the country.
• He was the Father of the NFDA.
• He was the first NFDA President.
• Michigan Funeral Directors Association
• 1st state to have an association
• The first convention was held in Jackson, MI on
  January 14, 1880

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Development of the NFDA

• Founded in 1882
• Significant events of the 1st convention
• established that it should function as a parent
  organization for state associations.
• Named itself the National Funeral Directors
  Association of the United States (later shortened
  to NFDA).
• Decided that merchandise and paraphernalia would
  be an integral part of the national meetings.
• 241 people were in attendance
• The desire for a more rapid educational
  improvement, led me to believe that through
  meetings and associations much good might be
  accomplished, which could not be obtained in any
  other way.

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Development of the NFDA

• 3 Significant events took place at the 1st
  National Convention
• 3 delegates from each State would be given the
  opportunity to vote and have u voice in the
  National arena.
• To name the organization the Funeral Directors
  National Association of The United States
  (later the NFDA)
• The forging of a close relationship manifested
  between the national Convention and the
  manufacturers of mortuary goods.

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Early Leadership

• Characteristics of early leadership
• fairly well-to-do
• fairly well-educated
• middle-class
• Most of the Funeral Directors of this time were
  self-made men, that worked their way into the
  trade not Just merely succeed their fathers.

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Code of Ethics

• Code of Ethics
• Created to develop a sense of inner-cohesion or
  colleagueship among funeral directors.
• Character and occupational morality
• Necessity of obeying the law
• Maintaining a high standard of conduct and
  advertising
• Advertising in daily prints (papers) was
  prohibited
• Why do you think they prohibited the printing of
• advertising in the papers?

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Communication within the trade

• Because of the rapid growth of the profession,
  communication with the trade was very important
  for the Funeral Director.
• Communication Avenues
• Drummers/Salesmen
• Trade papers
• Trade magazines

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Growth, Problems, and Change

• Relationships with Funeral Directors associations
  and manufacturers and their associations
  flourished.
• Railways and health agencies became involved in
  matters of transportation.
• There were no regulations so they made rules
  including the body had to be embalmed, could not
  have an infectious disease, and required permits.
• What good do you think the regulations did?

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• Public Health Agencies
• Funeral directors gained professional recognition
  for their work in embalming by the rules and
  regulations.
• Mortuary Education
• Changed from about 3 days in length to 3 months
  in length.
• Communication was still a problem.

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Professionalism

• Professionalism
• It was growing as a professional and was becoming
  more a respectable occupation.

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Traces of Professionalism at the Turn of the
Century

• The first state to require licensure of embalmers
  in 1894 was Virginia.
• Trade vs. Profession
• Do you think we are a trade or a profession?
• What are characteristics of each?
• Reference a Mortuary Law textbook for a list of
  the qualifications of a professional according to
  the Labor Department.

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Traces of Professionalism

• Problems faced the aspiring profession of funeral
  directing
• Embalming Procedures
• Techniques and fluids
• Tools and Instruments
• Universal definition of what constituted proper
  training to enter the occupation
• What do you think constitutes "proper training
  to
• enter this industry?

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Traces of Professionalism

• Probably the most difficult problem still facing
  the funeral director at the turn at the century
  was the all-encompassing question or
  professionalism itself.
• How far should the effort to professionalize the
  group be carried?
• Communication within the occupation was growing
  although somewhat of a problem.