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In 1914, desperate for land after the Gold Rush brought a population explosion to San Francisco, the city exiled its cemeteries, barring burials within city limits and relocating its existing graveyards to the tiny town of Colma, just south of Daly City, spawning America's only necropolis, where the dead outnumber the living 1000 to 1. But there's more to the story of the Bay Area's cemeteries than this expulsion. Silent Cities San Francisco reveals the complex cultural makeup of the Bay Area, where diversity and history collide, pitting the dead against the living in a race for space and memorialization.
About the author
Jessica Ferri started her career in publishing at FSG. Since 2009, she's been a freelance writer and her work has been published by The New Yorker's Page Turner Blog, The Economist, NPR, Yahoo!, Bustle, Time Out New York, The Lineup, The Barnes and Noble Review, and The Daily Beast, where she is a regular contributor on books.
Jessica has always harbored a passion for the macabre, whether it be horror movies, cemeteries, true crime, haunted histories, Charles Addams, the list goes on. She launched Silent Cities (silent_._cities) as a travelogue through Instagram, where she chronicled the incredible cemeteries she'd visit along with their unique and largely forgotten stories. The project immediately garnered the interest of a niche but very dedicated community of people who are fascinated by cemeteries and the secrets they hold.
She is also the author of Silent Cities: New York
