The Museum of Funeral Customs occupies a period building near Oak Ridge Cemetery and covers the history of human burial practices from antiquity to the modern era. Exhibits examine ancient Egyptian mummification, Victorian mourning customs (including the elaborate black crepe and jet jewellery worn by widows), and the development of the American funeral industry. There are displays of period hearses, embalming equipment, and coffin hardware.
The Lincoln funeral exhibit is the highlight: it traces the elaborate state funeral that followed the assassination and the unprecedented public mourning that accompanied the train's journey north and west. Original artefacts, contemporary photographs, and detailed accounts of the stops along the route make this one of the more affecting Lincoln-related exhibits in Springfield. The museum is a short walk from Lincoln's Tomb and makes a natural pairing with a cemetery visit.