A Grave Injustice
At state hospitals
all across Massachusetts there is a terrible sight: row upon row of small
concrete markers with only a number. These anonymous graves mark the resting
place of our sisters and brothers - former patients who died at state
hospitals - abandoned in life and death. The photographs on the left show
you a numbered grave marker from a state hospital and, next to it, a pet
cemetery. We feel that the cemeteries where former patients are buried
should be at least as dignified as a pet cemetery!
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Advocacy
Works!
Today ex-patients
from state institutions in Massachusetts and our allies are leading the
struggle to have cemeteries at state institutions restored and properly
memorialized. We want proper names on the graves - not numbers. We want
the cemeteries to have flowers, benches and a memorial commemorating the
lives of the human beings who are buried there. When we started this work
in 1997, we discovered two abandoned and forgotten cemeteries at Danvers
State Hospital. A total of 768 former patients are buried there. The picture
on the right shows how the larger of the two cemeteries looked before
we began our advocacy. The picture below it shows you what the cemeteries
look like after three years of advocacy. We have come a long way and look
forward to placing over 350 individual grave markers with names this spring!
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Get
Involved!
The second cemetery
at Danvers State Hospital is the smaller of the two and contains 93 numbered
markers. When we found this cemetery, landscapers estimated 39 years worth
of overgrowth. Farmers working in the surrounding fields had tossed piles
of large rocks into what looked like a briar patch but was actually a
cemetery. On the left you can see a picture of the smaller cemetery before
our advocacy and after our advocacy. In the spring of 2002 we look forward
to placing a wall of remembrance listing the names of the 93 people buried
in the second cemetery at Danvers State Hospital. Advocacy works! Today
there are state hospital cemetery memorial groups forming at Medfield
State Hospital, Metropolitan State Hospital, Tewksbury Hospital, Boston
State Hospital, Worcester State Hospital, Northampton State Hospital,
and Grafton State Hospital. Within the pages of this website you can learn
more about the issues related to advocating for state hospital cemetery
restoration and how you can help.
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