Saved by the Bell: How Americans Avoided Being Buried Alive
Friday, October 16, 2026
3:00 – 4:00 pm
South Coastal Library
Sussex County
Program: Saved by the Bell: How Americans Avoided Being Buried Alive
The line dividing life from death was not clearly defined in the 1800’s. In the rush to bury a corpse quickly, before contagious disease could spread, people who were comatose, catatonic, sedated, or just plain drunk were sometimes mistaken for dead. Factual and fictional accounts of unfortunate souls awakening in their coffin, combined with medical disagreements about how to test definitively for absence of life, created widespread panic and led to imaginative inventions for preventing premature burial. Learn about this historic phenomenon and how Americans tried to avoid being buried alive—including being “saved by the bell.”
Join Speaker Margaret Opsata for this talk.
This event is sponsored by Delaware Humanities. If you have any questions please contact the hosting location.
South Coastal Library
43 Kent Avenue
Meeting Room A & B
Bethany Beach DE 19930
302-858-5518
