JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI—According to a WAPT report, more than 1,000 graves have been found at the site of the Mississippi State Lunatic Asylum since the cemetery was discovered in 2013 on the grounds of the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). In all, the cemetery held an estimated 7,000 graves. “We have a few bone fragments, a few teeth, and the nails from the wooden coffins,” said archaeologist Jennifer Mack. “Every single person buried here was in his or her own coffin and in [their] own grave, and they were lined up neatly,” she added. Hospital records from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries show that deceased patients whose their families did not live in the area were buried in the cemetery. Coins, jewelry, and traces of formal clothing have also been recovered from the graves. “It seems if the family was not contacted in 24 hours, they were buried in the cemetery,” Mack said. No maps of the cemetery or markers remain, but death certificates dated from 1912 to 1935 have been preserved. Patients may have lived at the asylum if they had depression, a heart condition, or were elderly, added Lida Key of the Medical History Museum. Researchers from UMMC are attempting to return human remains to surviving family members. They are also collecting photographs, letters, and memories about people known to have lived in the facility. Plans are being developed to build a mausoleum to house unclaimed remains and relate the stories of those buried on the hospital grounds. To read about the lives of women at a nineteenth-century asylum in Sydney, Australia, go to "A Passion for Fruit: Sneaking a Snack."
