MCIG according to MCIG: historic document research

Summary

The Milwaukee County Institutional Grounds Cemetery in Wauwatosa, WI, operated under the administration of the Milwaukee County Institutions, which prepared official reports for submission to the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors. These primary documents survive in varying degrees of completeness at repositories across Milwaukee and include evidence of the mortuary activities of County institutions that may have buried individuals under institutional care at the MCIG cemetery. Submitted annually by law, the reports offer an ‘official’ picture of institutional operations and the population therein to compare with the archaeological understanding of the cemetery. Statistical and prose reports evidence the institutional process by which the cemetery was created. Intake and outtake statistics record age, nationality, occupation, and religious affiliation, drawing a demographic portrait of aid-seekers at various institutions over time. Tallies of coffins built, burials conducted, County-related post-mortems, Hospital and Home for Dependent Children deaths, and fulfillment of the religious needs of those served by the County can be accounted for in the County’s official documents. Taken together, these documents give a contemporary picture to compare with the archaeological evidence.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• People that no one had use for, had nothing to give to, no place to offer: The Milwaukee County Institution Grounds Poor Farm Cemetery

Keywords

Spatial Coverage