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Sites of Suffering, Tourism, and the Heritage of Darkness: Illustrations from the United States

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The Palgrave Handbook of Dark Tourism Studies

Abstract

This chapter examines the role of dark events and their associated locales in the United States. It examines the various dark spaces that have become significant tourist attractions in the US. America’s unique dark heritage is often associated with wars, slavery, maltreatment of indigenous people, pioneer settlers, terrorism, natural catastrophes, incarceration, and other human tragedies. Issues of scale, from global dark heritage to personal heritage, are salient considerations in how and where dark tourism has developed in the United States. The majority of dark sites have developed and become objects of heritage commemoration due to one-time events that have personal, national or global appeal, while the country still faces ongoing crises, such as racism, civil unrest and terrorism that continue to provide spaces of darkness that attract visitors who have personal or national connections to those events and their associated places.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA

    Dallen J. Timothy

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  1. Dallen J. Timothy
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom

    Philip R. Stone

  2. University of Colorado Denver, Denver, USA

    Rudi Hartmann

  3. University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Tony Seaton

  4. University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom

    Richard Sharpley

  5. Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia

    Leanne White

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Timothy, D.J. (2018). Sites of Suffering, Tourism, and the Heritage of Darkness: Illustrations from the United States. In: R. Stone, P., Hartmann, R., Seaton, T., Sharpley, R., White, L. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Dark Tourism Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47566-4_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47566-4_16

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-47565-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-47566-4

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