26-02-2025
They hoped to finally lay their ancestors to rest in 2025 after years on research shelves. They must continue waiting
Members of the Descendant Community of Milwaukee County Grounds Cemeteries no longer expect to rebury the remains of 831 early Milwaukeeans this year.
The Descendant Community ― an organization of descendants and interested citizens dedicated to preserving the memory of those buried at the Milwaukee County Grounds Cemeteries ― was awarded disposition of the late 19th- and early 20th-century remains in September by the Wisconsin Historical Society.
The cemeteries, disturbed multiple times by hospital construction, were meant to be the final resting place for Milwaukeeans who died while in poverty, had physical or mental health disabilities, or were unidentified or unclaimed at their time of death between 1852 and 1974.
Initially, the Descendant Community planned to hold reburials for the 831 at Forest Home Cemetery on Milwaukee's south side. The cemetery enthusiastically committed to the plan. Reburials were scheduled to begin in November and would've continued throughout 2025. However, legal challenges have gotten in the way.
The Historical Society said that the "disturbing entity" ― in this case, Froedtert ― must pay for the costs associated with reburial. The 831 were exhumed to make room for the construction of Froedtert's Center for Advanced Care in 2013. Since then, their remains have been at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where they've been used for anthropological research.
Last fall, Froedtert and Milwaukee County appealed the Historical Society's decision to the Wisconsin Division of Hearings and Appeals. On Jan. 10, the Division dismissed the case because state law doesn't give the Division jurisdiction to decide appeals of disposition decisions, nor does it authorize the Division to conduct a contested case hearing without a request by the Historical Society. The Historical Society moved to dismiss the appeals.
Both Froedtert and the county have appealed the Division's decision to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, said Judy Klimt Houston, the Descendant Community's president and founder.
Houston said she asked her lawyer on Feb. 12 what this meant for the reburial efforts. She said the lawyer told her he doesn't foresee the next appeals process being done "until maybe Labor Day."
"Unless something changes and goes really fast, he's like, 'I wouldn't expect that you guys will be burying anybody this year,'" Houston said.
She said it was especially disappointing news after hearing the opposite following the Historical Society's disposition decision last year.
"Our direction at this time is to wait for these court things to happen," Houston said. "It is really unfortunate. I've been very sad that these people will not be reburied this year."
More: Dead more than a century, now on research shelves, will Milwaukee's early poor rest in peace?
In its appeal to the Division, Froedtert said the Descendant Community's reburial plan is estimated to cost between $3,490,200 and $3,988,800, plus an additional $250,000 for a memorial obelisk.
On Feb. 13, Houston said her lawyer told her that Froedtert plans to continue arguing that "the price is too excessive." However, Houston counters that the Descendant Community's plan is "ecologically and financially sound." Each of the 831 would be buried in a 3-foot grave, one-third the size of a typical plot at Forest Home.
In their appeals to the Division, Froedtert and Milwaukee County said the Historical Society's decision failed to afford them "adequate" due process.
In a February statement, Froedtert said it is "committed to the respectful and dignified final disposition" of the remains and to partnering with the Descendant Community in the effort.
"Milwaukee County and Froedtert Hospital jointly filed a petition with Milwaukee County Circuit Court requesting a procedural review of the disposition decision, while continuing to seek an appropriate resolution of the matter," the hospital's statement continued.
In October, Milwaukee County Corporation Counsel attorney Scott Brown said a contractual relationship between the county and Froedtert gives the county an interest in the reburials.
"Under the Descendant Community plan, it is my understanding that Froedtert would be responsible for the reburial," Brown told the Journal Sentinel in an interview. "For legal reasons ... (Froedtert) could possibly have claims against us, as well, because we sold them that land."
The Milwaukee County Grounds Cemeteries, also known as the Milwaukee County Poor Farm or the Potter's Field of Milwaukee County, were four sections of a county-run cemetery for the poor, disabled, unclaimed and unidentified buried between 1852 and 1974.
It's estimated that around 10,000 Milwaukee County residents were buried across all four cemeteries. About 7,000 were buried in Cemetery 2, where the 831 came from. In addition to the 2013 disturbance, the remains of 1,649 people were exhumed from Cemetery 2 in 1991 and 1992 for medical complex expansion.
At first, those buried in Cemetery 2 were mostly European immigrants, Houston said. Native Americans and U.S.-born residents, especially Black Milwaukeeans, were buried there in the early 20th century.
Cemeteries 1, 3 and 4 remain undisturbed, UWM says. Cemeteries 1 and 3 were the final home of similar populations to Cemetery 2 ― the poor, unclaimed and unidentified. Cemetery 4 was used between 1880 and 1914 for patients and residents of the Milwaukee County Asylum.
Residents and patients of the Almshouse ― Milwaukee County's first medical institution and home to many disabled, chronically and mentally ill, orphaned and poor citizens who lived and worked there ― also were buried at the cemeteries.
Michele Gerlach, whose aunt's great-grandmother was buried in Cemetery 2, said the Descendant Community's main goal with the reburials is to give people back "the dignity that they didn't get to have when they were alive."
Per Wisconsin law, the Descendant Community was to begin the reburial process within 60 days of the final disposition award. That would have been Nov. 8. Houston said the Descendant Community's attorney requested a stay from the Historical Society, which would extend the required reburial start date.
"Because everything is based on the outcome (of the circuit court appeals), we are not at any risk for doing the reburials that we are supposed to do by a deadline because the deadline is stopped," Houston said.
She said the 831 remain housed at UWM.
Although the Descendant Community is saddened that reburials likely won't occur this year, Houston said her team is "going to make something good out of all this."
She said the Descendant Community will continue telling its story to the media and scholarly journals. The organization also hopes to connect with more descendants and volunteers. More than 200 people are involved in some capacity, and anyone is welcome to join.
"It's far beyond time to treat these people as people. They're not specimens. They're not artifacts. These were people who lived epic lives. They built Milwaukee County, the same streets we walk on now," Houston said. "If we continue to treat them differently, what does that say about us as humankind?"
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Descendant Community's reburial plans delayed by legal challenges
