This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/03/hart-island-new-york-city-mass-burial-graves
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| 'Like a prison for the dead': welcome to Hart Island, home to New York City's pauper graves | 'Like a prison for the dead': welcome to Hart Island, home to New York City's pauper graves |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| The “Keep Out” sign attached to the rusting chain-link fence is the first thing Rosalee Grable always notices when she arrives at the Hart Island ferry dock. Grable’s mother, “Karaoke Gladys”, who died last year aged 85, is buried there. Paying respects to her has proved to be a challenging business. | The “Keep Out” sign attached to the rusting chain-link fence is the first thing Rosalee Grable always notices when she arrives at the Hart Island ferry dock. Grable’s mother, “Karaoke Gladys”, who died last year aged 85, is buried there. Paying respects to her has proved to be a challenging business. |
| On a recent attempt to visit, Grable stands in line with a handful of fellow mourners, nervously clutching a bunch of flowers, while Department of Corrections officials check IDs and confiscate cellphones. Grable was once turned away because of a paperwork error. This time, to her intense relief, she is allowed onto the ferry. | On a recent attempt to visit, Grable stands in line with a handful of fellow mourners, nervously clutching a bunch of flowers, while Department of Corrections officials check IDs and confiscate cellphones. Grable was once turned away because of a paperwork error. This time, to her intense relief, she is allowed onto the ferry. |
| Once they get on to the Island, Grable and the other mourners are restricted to an 8ft by 10ft gazebo near the dock, which offers no view of any of their loved ones’ graves. No photographs are permitted and they are under guard at all times. | Once they get on to the Island, Grable and the other mourners are restricted to an 8ft by 10ft gazebo near the dock, which offers no view of any of their loved ones’ graves. No photographs are permitted and they are under guard at all times. |
| “It’s like we’re visiting an inmate in prison,” Grable says. “But then, that’s what Hart Island is, a prison for the dead.” | “It’s like we’re visiting an inmate in prison,” Grable says. “But then, that’s what Hart Island is, a prison for the dead.” |
| Hart Island has functioned as New York’s indigent burial ground for over a century. Over a million bodies are estimated to be buried here. Some were unclaimed at the time of death, others belong to families who lacked the means to pay for a traditional burial. Many were babies who died at birth. | Hart Island has functioned as New York’s indigent burial ground for over a century. Over a million bodies are estimated to be buried here. Some were unclaimed at the time of death, others belong to families who lacked the means to pay for a traditional burial. Many were babies who died at birth. |
| By an accident of history, the cemetery fell under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections (DOC), which uses inmate labor to conduct the burials. For years, family members had been saying that getting access to burial records, never mind the actual burial grounds, was next to impossible. | By an accident of history, the cemetery fell under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections (DOC), which uses inmate labor to conduct the burials. For years, family members had been saying that getting access to burial records, never mind the actual burial grounds, was next to impossible. |
| But now, thanks in large part to a 20-year campaign led by a New York-based artist, Melinda Hunt, this graveyard prison may soon become a sanctuary for both the living and the dead. | |
| Hunt discovered Hart Island over two decades ago during a photography assignment. She spent nearly three years documenting prisoners digging the graves and stacking the plain pine boxes into the unmarked plots, three wide by three deep. Each adult plot contains 150 pine boxes; each baby plot contains 1,000. A simple gravestone marking each of the plots bears no inscription. | Hunt discovered Hart Island over two decades ago during a photography assignment. She spent nearly three years documenting prisoners digging the graves and stacking the plain pine boxes into the unmarked plots, three wide by three deep. Each adult plot contains 150 pine boxes; each baby plot contains 1,000. A simple gravestone marking each of the plots bears no inscription. |
| “It became apparent to me that these people were being disappeared,” Hunt says, as she sifts through the photos taken at that time, “they were being cast aside by society in death as many of them had been in life.” | “It became apparent to me that these people were being disappeared,” Hunt says, as she sifts through the photos taken at that time, “they were being cast aside by society in death as many of them had been in life.” |
| The experience prompted her to found the Hart Island Project, and in 2008, after several failed FOIA requests, she successfully sued the city for access to the burial records. (All records prior to 1977 were destroyed in a fire.) | The experience prompted her to found the Hart Island Project, and in 2008, after several failed FOIA requests, she successfully sued the city for access to the burial records. (All records prior to 1977 were destroyed in a fire.) |
| But when Hunt received the handwritten ledger entries for the approximately 65,000 people who have been buried on the island since that year, she set about rescuing these lost souls from obscurity – the 21st-century way. She created a traveling cloud museum, a searchable database, that she likes to call “a sort of Facebook for the dead”. | |
| Now anyone trying to find a loved one they suspect may have been buried on Hart Island can enter the name into the database, and find out the date of burial and the exact GPS location of the plot. Next to each name is a ticking clock of anonymity representing how long that person has been unclaimed. To stop the clock, friends or relatives can submit a story or photo to the online record. | Now anyone trying to find a loved one they suspect may have been buried on Hart Island can enter the name into the database, and find out the date of burial and the exact GPS location of the plot. Next to each name is a ticking clock of anonymity representing how long that person has been unclaimed. To stop the clock, friends or relatives can submit a story or photo to the online record. |
| Hunt says hundreds of people have been able to track down relatives this way. But for some family members, especially mothers of stillborn babies who allowed the city to take care of burial arrangements, learning the circumstances of their final resting place can be a painful experience. | Hunt says hundreds of people have been able to track down relatives this way. But for some family members, especially mothers of stillborn babies who allowed the city to take care of burial arrangements, learning the circumstances of their final resting place can be a painful experience. |
| For nearly two decades, Tanya Dupree-Bryant had been trying to find out where her baby son Glenn was buried. | For nearly two decades, Tanya Dupree-Bryant had been trying to find out where her baby son Glenn was buried. |
| Glenn died in a New York city hospital after being born at just 17 weeks. In her grief, Dupree-Bryant says, she agreed to the hospital staff’s suggestion to let the city handle the burial. “They told me he would be laid to rest on an island with all the other babies,” she says, shuddering at the memory. “But no one ever mentioned that he would be in an unmarked mass grave. I would never have agreed to that.” | Glenn died in a New York city hospital after being born at just 17 weeks. In her grief, Dupree-Bryant says, she agreed to the hospital staff’s suggestion to let the city handle the burial. “They told me he would be laid to rest on an island with all the other babies,” she says, shuddering at the memory. “But no one ever mentioned that he would be in an unmarked mass grave. I would never have agreed to that.” |
| Even more painful was the discovery that babies like Glenn, who do not survive past 20 weeks, are not even assigned their own pine box and are typically listed on the burial ledger as “refuse”. | Even more painful was the discovery that babies like Glenn, who do not survive past 20 weeks, are not even assigned their own pine box and are typically listed on the burial ledger as “refuse”. |
| For many family members, including those like Grable, who voluntarily had their loved ones interred on the island, the circumstances of the burials are less painful than the embargo on gravesite visits. On Mother’s Day, Grable, who lives on social security and disability income, wanted to bring her mom some flowers. It wasn’t a scheduled visiting day, but she made the two-hour subway and bus trip to the ferry dock regardless and attached the flowers to the chain-link fence under the “Keep Out” sign. “It doesn’t feel right that we’re treated this way,” she says. “Being poor shouldn’t mean you have no rights.” | |
| Despite mounting requests and growing pressure, the DOC has been steadfast in its refusal to change its policy regarding gravesite visits, citing insufficient resources and infrastructure to accommodate them. But a class action lawsuit filed last December by the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) to help people like Grable may force its hand. | Despite mounting requests and growing pressure, the DOC has been steadfast in its refusal to change its policy regarding gravesite visits, citing insufficient resources and infrastructure to accommodate them. But a class action lawsuit filed last December by the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) to help people like Grable may force its hand. |
| The suit alleges that denying family members the ability to properly mourn and express their grief is a violation of their rights under the first and 14th amendments. According to NYCLU’s Chris Dunn, who submitted the complaint, attempts to reach a settlement were unsuccessful and the case is now in pre-trial proceedings. The DOC did not respond to a request for comment. | The suit alleges that denying family members the ability to properly mourn and express their grief is a violation of their rights under the first and 14th amendments. According to NYCLU’s Chris Dunn, who submitted the complaint, attempts to reach a settlement were unsuccessful and the case is now in pre-trial proceedings. The DOC did not respond to a request for comment. |
| A bill has also been introduced by New York City councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley seeking the transfer of jurisdiction of Hart Island from the DOC to the city’s parks department, which she says would be the most able agency to open up the island to the public. A hearing is expected on this issue in June. | A bill has also been introduced by New York City councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley seeking the transfer of jurisdiction of Hart Island from the DOC to the city’s parks department, which she says would be the most able agency to open up the island to the public. A hearing is expected on this issue in June. |
| In August, the Hart Island Project is submitting an application to the federal government seeking funding to have the island declared a national monument. “Even now, despite years of neglect, the island is like an open-air cathedral, steeped in history,” Hunt says. “The public ought to be able to experience it.” | In August, the Hart Island Project is submitting an application to the federal government seeking funding to have the island declared a national monument. “Even now, despite years of neglect, the island is like an open-air cathedral, steeped in history,” Hunt says. “The public ought to be able to experience it.” |
| Whatever the future holds, however, Grable has already decided she wants to end up there when her time comes. “I don’t mind being buried apartment-style in a mass grave,” she says, smiling. “I just want to be close to my mom.” | Whatever the future holds, however, Grable has already decided she wants to end up there when her time comes. “I don’t mind being buried apartment-style in a mass grave,” she says, smiling. “I just want to be close to my mom.” |