CEMETERY DEDICATION

The dedication for the new memorial at the old asylum cemetery will be this Friday, January 21, 2011, between 2-4 pm. The public is welcome. The location of the cemetery is at the corner of 21st and Hymer in Sparks, NV. Refreshments and historical displays will be in the Agriculture Building adjacent to the cemetery following the outdoor dedication ceremony.

If you are in the Sparks/Reno/Carson City area please plan to attend this historic event.

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Preserving a Historic Cemetery

We are a group of families of cemetery residents and friends concerned with the preservation of this historic cemetery. In no way is this site meant to criticize the current management and wonderful people who currently care for residents of Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services. (Formerly known as the Nevada Mental Health Institute, Nevada Hospital for Mental Diseases, Nevada State Hospital, and the Nevada State Asylum.)The issues and atrocities of this cemetery date back to its founding in 1882. Neglect and desecration at the Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services Cemetery has continued with the blessing of the State of Nevada through many generations. Between 1882 and 1949 many patients found the hospital cemetery to be their final home. Plots were filled with souls who had lived tormented lives and in death were never granted the decency of a tranquil resting place and connection with their families.The current generation of hospital administrators and politicians were not responsible for the history of the cemetery. They do, however, find themselves in a position to make some amends by providing a new future for the residents of the cemetery and their families.

Grave Faces

The face of this cemetery might well be represented by Cora Clark. Cora was the daughter of the well-known Wilcox family of Carson City. Her father was a Civil War veteran and a Mayflower passenger descendant. Cora led the usual life of the times, marrying young and having a family. Her life changed when her husband had her committed to the State Hospital in 1917. The reason given to her family was that he could not get along with her. Cora would spend the next 25 years of her life at the State Hospital during some of the worst times of its history. Her family always corresponded with her and sent money for her clothing and other needs. They were never told to stop sending money for her care, but on a visit around 1940 they were told she had "vanished". A death certificate was obtained a few years later showing that she died at the hospital in 1943 and was buried at the hospital cemetery. Cora had family in Carson City and her father, mother and brothers are all buried at Lone Mountain Cemetery. This was where Cora was also to be buried. At the time of her death the law required that family be notified. If family could not be found, a death notice was to be published in a local paper. Neither of these things was done for Cora so her children were unable to bury her with her family according to their wishes. As was the custom at this hospital and others across the country, she was buried on hospital grounds in the manner fitting an indigent as defined by the State of Nevada. One would think that on the day of her death in 1943 her troubled life may have given way to a peaceful eternal rest. This was not the case.

Nevada's Grave Injustice - "Erased En Masse"

The State Hospital in Sparks was in a very isolated area in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It was a working farm where the "inmates" raised animals and grew their own food. Burial procedures were most likely a do-it-yourself operation at the direction of the current management. Record keeping was minimal and grave markers seemed at the whim of administrators of the times. A few graves had markers, but most had none.

Atrocities and Desecration

Throughout the years the cemetery at this Nevada hospital has suffered neglect and horrendous acts. There are eye witness accounts of the excavation of the asylum ditch through the hospital property. Those accounts tell of bodies being dredged from their graves with body parts strewn about, of skulls being taken home and gold teeth removed. There are accounts of watching workers dig graves too shallow, burying bodies in cardboard refrigerator boxes then jumping on the boxes to get the box to fit the hole before covering the grave. In subsequent years this desecration took another form in the name of progress. On March 28, 1949 the Nevada Legislature passed Assembly Bill No. 357. Section 3524.01 stated "it is hereby made the specific duty of the board of commissioners of the Nevada hospital for mental diseases to abolish the use of any cemeteries now located on the hospital grounds." Apparently the word "abolish" meant the cemeteries were no longer there and the land could be used at will. There were apparently no provisions made for the care of the graves previously placed in the cemeteries.Over the years a road was constructed over part of the cemetery as well as a fire station. In 2005 the legislature approved a $91 million increase in the mental health budget, with plans for building a $4 million kitchen and a plan to renovate the site. Again an estimated 40 graves remaining seemed an inconvenience to the State of Nevada. Instead of dedicating the area of this cemetery within its perimeter and allowing this site to be respected, the kitchen and parking lot were built. Newspaper articles quoted concerned politicians discussing the uproar that might be caused by moving the graves and musing over how someone would feel if a member of someone's family was buried there. It is now 2008 and what remains of the cemetery is just a field that cars could easily drive over with no barrier and no sign to even show the basic respect that it exists.A member of someone's family is buried there. Cora is a perfect example. In fact, a minimum of 40 families, probably more, have someone buried there. Many families undoubtedly do not even know their family member is at the hospital cemetery. When the hospital was first constructed inmates were brought to the hospital from Stockton. There may be many families in California who never knew what became of their family members.

Righting the Wrongs

Nothing will ever change the wrongs that have been done to those buried in this cemetery, beginning with the disrespectful burials, and including the excavation of the ditch, the road building, building the fire station and the kitchen. Nothing will repair the loss families feel knowing they will never know exactly where their loved ones are buried.

Options

Since it seems the State of Nevada has no plans for this cemetery perhaps the families of those buried there and members of the community could make their feelings known. The family of Cora Clark has offered some of the following suggestions:

1. That a simple perimeter such as boulders be placed around what the hospital feels is the boundary of the cemetery to keep vehicles from driving over the grave area. It is obvious without any records that this would never be exact, but marking what remains would be a step in the right direction.

2. That a monument be placed at the cemetery with the names of ALL who were buried there, including the name of the "unknowns". That a sign with the name of the cemetery be placed at the entrance so members of the community and family members can place flowers at the graves.

3. That the land upon which the cemetery sits be set aside and not encroached upon for further development. One idea might be that the land be given to the Parks Department or State Historical Society and maintained in a way similar to other historic Nevada cemeteries. As long as the land remains in control of the hospital, the hospital is in the cemetery business and should conduct itself according to the rules and regulations of the Nevada State Funeral Board.

Cemetery Photos and First Hand Account

To view photographs of the hospital, cemetery photos and the remaining markers visit:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cemetery/Nevada/washoe/mental/pages/mentalinst.html

Read a first-hand account of the atrocities that occurred at the cemetery in the 1940s by author Dennis Cassinelli in his book Uncovering Archaeology. Excerpts can be read at his website:
http://web.mac.com/denniscassinelli/Dennis_Cassinelli/DennisCassinelli.html

Suggestions

OTHER SUGGESTIONS?

If you are interesting in preserving this historic cemetery, sharing ideas and receiving email updates, please email: mifieldni@yahoo.com

Your suggestions can also be added to this blog.

Questions???

Does anyone know of any groups who have worked to preserve this cemetery in the past?

Would anyone know of others with first-hand knowledge of the burials at this cemetery?