On a hill deep within the sprawling grounds of what was once called the Hospital for the Negro Insane of Maryland is the burial site of more than 1600 patients whose remains were left unclaimed by family and friends. Concrete markers carry not names but numbers, pressed into the damp concrete as it dried. Once positioned standing, these barest of monuments have now been laid flat—some flush with the ground and others sinking below it. From any distance, the cemetery is all but invisible. However, a bronze marker on a granite stone, placed when the hospital closed in 2004, tries to convey the site’s purpose, while an ongoing discussion considers doing more. Crownsville’s cemetery is one of hundreds of such institutional cemeteries around the nation where those who lived apart from society remain apart from it in death as well, marked by numbers instead of names. Efforts to return identities to those interred at many of these cemeteries are now underway, and these efforts range from simple preservation of the simple markers to far more ambitious and creative efforts to bring dignity to those we’ve forgotten. This paper will consider Crownsville’s cemetery and the current discussion about that site’s preservation and interpretation against the backdrop of other efforts carried out at other hospital sites across the nation.
About the presenterDennis Montagna
Dr. Dennis Montagna directs the National Park Service’s Monument Research & Preservation Program. Based at the Park Service’s Philadelphia Region Office, the program provides comprehensive assistance in the interpretation and care of historic cemeteries, outdoor sculpture and public monuments to managers of National Park sites and to other constituents nationwide. He is a Trustee of the Association for Gravestone Studies and serves as the organization’s Vice President. He holds a BA degree in Studio Art from Florida State University, a Master’s degree in Art History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Ph.D from the University of Delaware.