“Nobody’s Story” Told: Evaluating Osteology and Archival Demography at the Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery

Mentor 1

Shannon Freire

Start Date

28-4-2023 12:00 AM

Description

As of 2014, four locations on the Milwaukee County Grounds in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin have been identified as cemeteries representing the burial of more than 10,000 individuals. Three of these cemeteries, 1, 3, and 4 are located on the periphery of the Milwaukee County Grounds and remain undisturbed. The fourth cemetery, Cemetery 2 (1882-1925), is located in one of the most densely used portions of the Regional Medical Center and has been disturbed multiple times since its closure. It is estimated that 55% of grave sites in Cemetery 2 were disturbed before 1990. Operating under the Wisconsin Burial Site Preservation statute enacted in 1987 (§157.70), two archaeological excavations occurred at Cemetery 2, the first in 1991-1992 and the second in 2013. In both instances, archaeological excavation of burials was conducted in specific impact localities associated with the respective construction projects and related infrastructure. It is estimated that 32% of the total burials in Cemetery 2 were excavated archaeologically. Extensive archival research has created a demographic picture of the Cemetery 2 burial population. This archival research also identified significant discrepancies between death certificates and the Register of Burial. Given the history of disturbance, will the demography of the Cemetery 2 burial population generated via osteological analyses match the results of archival research? This question is vital to understanding Cemetery 2 today and facilitates the provisional identification of archaeological individuals. Documentation of human skeletal remains utilized well-established, standardized osteological methods of data collection. This research found that osteologically overrepresented and underrepresented groups matched the groups identified archivally when the Cemetery 2 burial population was compared to the city of Milwaukee. Preliminary spatial analyses suggest that the proportions of these over and underrepresented groups are largely consistent throughout the areas of adult and juvenile interments in Cemetery 2 with some intriguing exceptions.

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Apr 28th, 12:00 AM

“Nobody’s Story” Told: Evaluating Osteology and Archival Demography at the Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery

As of 2014, four locations on the Milwaukee County Grounds in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin have been identified as cemeteries representing the burial of more than 10,000 individuals. Three of these cemeteries, 1, 3, and 4 are located on the periphery of the Milwaukee County Grounds and remain undisturbed. The fourth cemetery, Cemetery 2 (1882-1925), is located in one of the most densely used portions of the Regional Medical Center and has been disturbed multiple times since its closure. It is estimated that 55% of grave sites in Cemetery 2 were disturbed before 1990. Operating under the Wisconsin Burial Site Preservation statute enacted in 1987 (§157.70), two archaeological excavations occurred at Cemetery 2, the first in 1991-1992 and the second in 2013. In both instances, archaeological excavation of burials was conducted in specific impact localities associated with the respective construction projects and related infrastructure. It is estimated that 32% of the total burials in Cemetery 2 were excavated archaeologically. Extensive archival research has created a demographic picture of the Cemetery 2 burial population. This archival research also identified significant discrepancies between death certificates and the Register of Burial. Given the history of disturbance, will the demography of the Cemetery 2 burial population generated via osteological analyses match the results of archival research? This question is vital to understanding Cemetery 2 today and facilitates the provisional identification of archaeological individuals. Documentation of human skeletal remains utilized well-established, standardized osteological methods of data collection. This research found that osteologically overrepresented and underrepresented groups matched the groups identified archivally when the Cemetery 2 burial population was compared to the city of Milwaukee. Preliminary spatial analyses suggest that the proportions of these over and underrepresented groups are largely consistent throughout the areas of adult and juvenile interments in Cemetery 2 with some intriguing exceptions.