Introduction
When Elvis Presley died, an estimated 80,000 people gathered at the gates of his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. A few thousand of these mourners were allowed a short glimpse of the body as it lay in state in the front hall of the mansion (Brixey and Dixon, 1983, 58). On the first anniversary of Presley's death, 9,000 people from around the world journeyed to Memphis despite a police strike in that city (New York Times, 1978, 16). A quarter of a century later, both Elvis and Graceland are solid pillars of popular culture.
What attracts people to Graceland? What do they experience while there? To understand the importance of this pilgrimage, we need to consider human motives, beliefs and expectations. The paper focuses on the pilgrims' views and the satisfactions they derive from the pilgrimage.
Data Collection
A pilgrimage is much more than a journey to a significant site. Among other things, it may be an expression of faith, and it may offer opportunities for spiritual and bodily healing, for prestige, and for camaraderie. Accordingly, it was necessary to contact Graceland visitors directly to elicit their feelings and to observe their behaviors. The present study reports on 209 open-ended interviews conducted in Memphis over five weeks in 1984, from July 16 to August 20. The final week coincided with the Elvis International Tribute Week, when 21,000 Presley fans converged to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the singer's death. This was in addition to the normal flow of 3,000 tourists per day in the summer In 1984, Graceland had been open to tourists for two years. The "Elvis is Alive" phenomenon was three years away.
Each day, interviews were held in one of three locations: the front gate of Graceland, a location within yards of the Presley mansion and grave, or in front of one of the souvenir shops across the street. (Special permission was obtained to conduct interviews behind the gates of Graceland.)
Visitors' reactions on tours were also unobtrusively observed and recorded. Every second or third day, Meditation Gardens was visited from 6:30 to 7:45 A.M., when, before the daily tours commenced, people were allowed in. No visitor was approached for an interview during that time lest it affect the behavior of the person involved or others. Findings The 209 randomly selected visitors comprised two major different groups, subsequently called "tourists" and "pilgrims". The division was made on the basis of the primary destination for their journey, the meaning of Elvis, the importance placed on visiting Graceland and, to a lesser extent, the length of stay in Memphis. By far, the largest portion was tourists (85%). The smaller but more interesting 31 visitors were later called "transient pilgrims" to distinguish them from the seven "immigrant pilgrims" who had moved permanently to Memphis because of the attachment to Elvis. In what follows, feelings and behavior of transient and immigrant pilgrims will be contrasted and compared with each other as well as with tourists.
The Significance of Graceland to Immigrant Pilgrims
The immigrant pilgrims considered Graceland to be the most important place on earth. Denis Wise, a professional Elvis imitator, stated that "If there is the heart of the world it's Graceland …" A very similar statement was made by another young man,
I always wanted to move to Memphis … like I was always meant to be here … Graceland could be the heart of the world …
The immigrant pilgrims considered Graceland to be much more precious than their own homes, which they had left behind. Interestingly, these people did not have familial ties to bind them to their former residences. Feelings of isolation were alleviated by moving to Memphis because Graceland attracted other people who were equally committed to Presley. Graceland symbolized feelings of love and association with other people. Fraternal bonds were embodied in the phrase, "Elvis fans can move mountains". Moreover, the sentiment was expressed that because everybody loved Elvis, anyone who loved Elvis would also be loved. Most immigrant pilgrims would go so far as to claim that the Presley mansion was not just a meeting place, but it is the domain of their hero's spirit.
The Significance of Graceland to Transient Pilgrims
In contrast to the immigrant pilgrims, the transient pilgrims tended not to advocate the view that Graceland was the center of the earth. Unlike the immigrant pilgrims who were in need of a surrogate home, the meaning of life for the transient pilgrims was based in their occupations and/or families in another place. However, a few individuals made statements such as, "Coming to Graceland is like coming home". Although the transient pilgrims did not identify with the mansion quite as closely as the immigrant pilgrims, they did consider Elvis' home to be an extremely important and electrifying place. By journeying to Graceland, people in this group experienced a sense of closeness and identification with their hero. A woman from Barrie, Ontario, Canada expressed it as follows:
It's him, his home … That's the closest I'll ever get to him. By being here, I can get a feeling of what was like when he was alive.
Graceland was loved by Elvis, and it gave him a sense of belonging and meaning. Similarly, it is loved by both immigrant and transient pilgrims. The home is also a major physical remnant of Presley's life -- a life which the pilgrims needed to know more about. For some, the personal meaning of Graceland was linked to religious beliefs. One person commented, "Graceland is the closest we can get to him until we die and go to heaven with him".
For the majority of transient pilgrims, Graceland was physical space, but for others it had a very pronounced spiritual dimension. One person declared "I don't care about going anywhere else … He's still in that house".
The Significance of Graceland to Tourists
The tourist population substantiated the concept that a place can be assigned vastly different meanings. While all pilgrims attributed great importance to Graceland, roughly one third of the tourists stated that Presley's home was devoid of any meaning to them. One such visitor stated that his coming to Graceland was "just an opportunity to stop … wouldn't want to go through Memphis without stopping … [yet] not truthfully an Elvis fan. Others saw the Presley mansion was "the home of a famous star" or "the symbol of a bygone era in music". Although some visitors valued and admired Elvis, this esteem did not necessarily carry over to his home.
The vast majority of people traveling to Graceland were not devoted pilgrims, but rather curiosity seekers. The home attracted many people who at this stage in their lives had only casual interest in Presley, and it also attracted many devoted Elvis Presley admirers who did not place any real meaning on the externalities of the singer's life as manifested by Graceland. However, many Elvis fans visited Graceland because of the sanctity they saw in that place.
Experience of Place: Graceland
Experiences inside the Presley mansion also varied among visitors. By examining these experiences, one can gain further insights into the varying degrees of importance attached to being in that place. Approximately one fifth of the transient pilgrims and one third of the tourists were impressed by the physical aspects of the dwelling. Some of these people thought that the mansion exuded wealth and beauty. A man from Fort Worth, Texas, stated, "I can't visualize anyone having enough money to buy anything he wanted … fabulous taste. I'm sure he enjoyed living". Other people were less than impressed, especially with his taste in home furnishings. Transient pilgrims frequently concentrated on the aesthetic aspects of the house and tended to admire what they saw. A commonly uttered phrase by transient pilgrims was "You just can't get enough of it. Each time you go through, you notice something different". In other words, by continually viewing the relics of their hero's life, the transient pilgrims felt that the secrets of his existence gradually unfolded to them.
Emotional experiences inside the home were reported by one quarter of the tourists and one third of the transient pilgrims. Although sadness was the predominant response, a number of individuals felt honored, happy and excited to actually be inside Elvis Presley's home. For instance, a female pilgrim from New York exclaimed, "It was overwhelming … my hands were shaking … too much of an emotional thing". By contrast, many people were not moved at all. Hence, one can conclude that emotional experiences must originate within the individual rather than being an instinctive reaction to an environment.
One third of those visitors who considered Elvis a friend, even though they had never actually met him, had spiritual encounters inside the house. For instance, an immigrant pilgrim indicated that she acquired a photograph on which Elvis' ghost was plainly visible and seated on the living room sofa. "I have a feeling he's still here … I believe in a hereafter … I believe he'll always be here", claimed another woman from England. Belief in Presley's spiritual existence, however, did not necessarily mean that the ghost would be felt within the house itself. Some people experienced him at the grave or elsewhere on the estate. A graffiti written on the brick wall which surrounds the Presley property read, "I know that you're up there smiling down on all of us. Edith sends her love and knows you'll be there on her wedding day". Some people made a pilgrimage to Memphis because the soul of the person whom they revered was there. That Elvis' spirit seemingly made itself known only to a relative few of his loyal followers, and that the precise nature and location of the revelations varied between individuals, suggests that people perceive and interpret environments differently. Even though the majority of interviewees were oblivious to it, Presley's ghost was very real to those people who claimed to have experienced it. The majority of people who felt close to Elvis inside the house, however, did not report a spiritual interaction. Comments included: "It gives me the chills to know that he once lived here" and "It's a thrill to be able to walk where he once walked".
Immigrant pilgrims viewed Graceland as sacred space, and so they resented its commercial exploitation. Tourists should not be allowed inside the Presley home, they thought, and management promotes tours against the wishes of the singer. This was expressed in part as follows, "Graceland [Enterprises] is pushing Graceland. They don't care about Elvis. People are here to see Elvis". Two important points are reiterated by this quote. First, Graceland would be nothing without its associational link with Elvis, and because that link did exist the house is sacred. Second, the sacredness of Graceland dictates that the home should be treated with respect. Living and working in the vicinity of Graceland enables the immigrant pilgrims to monitor any ill proceeding there.
A small minority of both transient pilgrim and tourist groups shared the opinion of the immigrant pilgrims that their presence in the Presley mansion was an invasion of privacy. Transient pilgrims who felt like intruders in the house generally wanted the house closed to tours, and themselves to be given back the privilege of walking through the Music Gates and walking up the driveway into the estate - rather than riding on a sterile tour bus. Still other transient pilgrims were ecstatic about having toured through Graceland, and a few wanted to see even more of the mansion than was open to the tours.
The data suggest, then, that people visited Graceland for vastly different reasons. The majority of people wished to have something akin to a tourist experience, whereas others wanted to feel physically or spiritually closer to their hero. Divergent experiences inside the Presley mansion also revealed that a site can be different things to different people.
The Significance of Meditation Gardens
For most pilgrims regardless of religion, the burial site of the person revered is important. For Elvis fans too this is so, but as with the mansion, the degree of importance attached to Presley's grave site varied among individuals.
Between 9:00 A.M. and 6:00 P.M., Meditation Gardens, Presley's grave site, was the final exhibit on the mansion tour. During that period, the vast majority of visitors stood respectfully at the foot of Elvis' final resting place for a few moments and then proceeded to the van area to be shuttled off the property. Children tended to be more fascinated with the large water fountain in the center of Meditation Gardens than with the grave. A few adults dropped cigarette butts on the ground each day, an indication of lack of respect, but on the whole, the visits took place in an air of reverence for the dead.
During the anniversary week of Presley's death, such behavior in Meditation Gardens remained the same from 9:00 A.M. till 6:00 P.M., as tourists still grossly out-numbered pilgrims. But during the early morning visitation period, before the tours began, a vast change occurred. Until August 7th, tourist behavior such as picture taking and coin tossing predominated even during the early part of the day. A few people, however, sat quietly on the steps near the foot of the grave. Most notably, two women from Europe arrived in Meditation Gardens at precisely 6:50 A.M. each morning and stayed for the remaining 40 minutes of the early visitation period. They were in Memphis for the entire duration of the field research. Because they seldom spoke or took photographs, their behavior indicated that they had great respect for Elvis and cherished the peaceful moments which they could spend at his grave. The beauty, tranquility and sanctity which these two women musty have assigned to Meditation Gardens were probably largely unknown to the tourists who were there at the same time.
When the pilgrims began arriving in Memphis for the festival week, the behavior exhibited by the two European women in Meditation Gardens became the norm rather than the norm during the early visitation. The number of people who kept an early morning vigil at the grave gradually increased from half a dozen in early August to approximately 300 on the day prior to the anniversary of Elvis' death. Several people brought elaborate handmade floral arrangements on August 16th. Personal sources indicated that some of these projects were a year in the making. Two creations symbolized life: a kite and a detailed replica of Presley's private jet aircraft set in a background of clouds. Yet, the creator of another floral tribute stated in an interview, "Elvis is dead that's it". Similar overt behavior at the grave site did not necessarily reflect the same kind of experience. Floral tributes were placed in a very sincere and meticulous manner. Somewhat similarly, on August 9th, pilgrims helped to place flowers back on the grave after the yard workers cut the grass. Earlier that morning, a woman from Toronto, Canada commenced picking up litter. Prior to the influx of pilgrims, visitors were not observed taking flowers to the grave, nor did anyone kiss the commemorative plaque. Those were the actions of devout followings.
Pilgrims tended not congregate at the grave during regular tour hours because the sanctity of that place was not agreed upon by everyone present. Organized Presley related events throughout Memphis were undoubtedly alluring to the pilgrims as well. One day, a small group of women did sit at the grave for roughly 30 minutes during regular tour hours, but they promptly left after they were interviewed for television. Although these women may have welcomed the opportunity to vocalize their feelings for Elvis, the cameras may have also invaded their personal space. Another woman, who wished to spend some time at the grave one afternoon, was upset by tourists' behavior:
This morning [at the pilgrims' vigil], everybody understood what everybody else felt. When I was there during the tour, a little kid said, "Mommy, is Elvis dead?" I didn't like that.
Discussion
Barber (1972, 328) states that when people congregate at a war memorial, common ideals are strengthened because there are enough people to propagate these notions. Likewise, Relph (1976, 31) states that rituals, customs and myths enjoin the members of a group with their surroundings. Tuan (1974, 98, 108) states that people cannot establish meaningful relationships with their surroundings without long-term residency and working with the land. Durkheim (1975, 131) and Tanaka (1977, 113) hold that sacredness is an assigned status, which is maintained through continued usage. The pilgrims in the present study were in Memphis to express the value they placed on Graceland, Meditation Gardens and other sites associated with the life of their hero. These places did not acquire meaning through frequent visits by individual pilgrims; they were already meaningful places. Implied, then, is that commitment to a special cause, rather than residency or continued usage, may be the underlying determiner of the meanings which we assign to our surroundings.
How long is Graceland likely to be a pilgrimage destination? This study suggests an unequivocal answer, "as long as Elvis remains a folk hero!" How long with that be? "A long time", according to indications from the survey and literature on heroes. Throughout the research, devoted Presley fans were encountered who really only became aware of the singer after his death because they were too young to recall his heyday. Aquila (1982) and Tharpe (1979, 7) state that deceased celebrities are remembered by the public because of the publicity they receive after their deaths. The pilgrims in this study recognized the media's ability to introduce their hero to new generations. Twenty-five years after his death, and 18 years after our study, Elvis skyrocketed back at the top of the music charts with a song featured in a Nike television commercial. In contrast, the pilgrimage to Rudolph Valentino's grave dwindled by the 25th year as the silent movie era faded from consciousness.
Summary
Visitors to Elvis Presley's Graceland comprise of two groups: tourists, by far the most numerous, and pilgrims, according to a random sample of 209 visitors interviewed there over a five week period which included the seventh anniversary of Presley's death in 1977. A third group, immigrant pilgrims, moved to Memphis permanently because of Elvis and Graceland. Both the mansion and the adjacent grave of Elvis garnered different expectations, experiences, behaviors and satisfactions in the pilgrims and tourists, although a wide range occurred within each group. For pilgrims, devotion to Elvis and camaraderie with each other were particularly pronounced. A pilgrimage is much more than a pilgrimage to a significant site.
Bibliography
Aquila, R. (1982) Not fade away: Buddy Holly and the making of an American legend. Journal of Popular Culture, 15 (4): 75-80.
Barber, B. (1972) Place symbol and utilitarian function in war memorials. In R. Gutman (ed.), People and Buildings. Basic Books: New York, 327-334.
Brixey, K.H. (1984) Graceland Enterprises, Memphis, Tennessee. Interview, 27 July.
Brixey, K.H., and Dixon, T. (1983) Elvis at Graceland. Cypress Press, Memphis, Tennessee.
Davidson, J. (1983) The Pilgrimage to Elvis Presley's Graceland: A Study of the Meanings of Place. Master of Arts thesis, Wilfrid Laurier University: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Davidson, J., Hecht A. and Whitney H. (1990) The Pilgrimage to Graceland. In G. Rinschede and S.M. Bhardwaj (eds.) Pilgrimage in the United States. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag.
Davidson, J. (1987) Graceland. more than a hit song -- a twentieth century mecca. Studies in Popular Culture.
Durkheim, E. (1975) The elementary forms of religious life: the totemic system in Australia. In J. Redding and W.S.F. Pickering (trans.), Durkheim on Religion: A Selection of Readings. Routledge and Kegan Paul: Boston, 131.
New York Times (1978) 9 January, 12 August, 14 August.
Relph, E.C. (1976) The Phenomenological Foundations of Geography. University of Toronto, Department of Geography. Discussion Paper, Series 21.
Relph, E.C. (1976) Place and Placelessness. Pion Ltd.: London.
Tanaka, H. (1977) Geographic expression of Buddhist pilgrim places on Shikoku Island, Japan. Canadian Geographer. 21 (2): 111-132.
Tharpe, J.L. (1979) Will the real Elvis Presley …? In J.L. Tharpe (ed.): Elvis Images and Fancies. University Press of Mississippi: Jackson, Mississippi, 3-10.
Tuan, Yi-Fu. (1974) Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perception, Attitudes and Values. Prentice-Hall: New Jersey.
Wise, D. (1984) Stage 45, Restaurant Lounge, Memphis, Tennessee, Interview, 26 July.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |