Anna, thanks for answering the question about flower girls. The customer was not limited to African-Americans. My mom (who grew up in East Tennessee) was a flower girl many times in her childhood. -- Janet Gecowets ----- Original Message ----- From: "Anna Bertram" <abertram@heartoftn.net> To: <TNFENTRE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2006 4:11 PM Subject: [TNFENTRE-L] Flower Girls - Not Genealogy but Custom > Willie, > > I live in Middle Tennessee and have heard of the term Flower Girl in > regards to black funerals. I suppose white people can have them too. A > co-worker told me it was an honor to be asked to serve as a flower girl. > In her church or community the flower girls dressed in fancy white dresses > and were part of the funeral procession. From the time the body was laid > in state they were in charge of receiving the floral arrangements and > placing them around the casket. They did the same at the church before the > funeral, and again at the place of burial. They also recorded the flowers > and plants received in the funeral memories book for the bereaved to keep. > > Anna Bertram