Relatives of family members buried on Hart Island will soon enjoy “increased access to the cemetery under a modified lawsuit settlement.” Under the new settlement agreement between the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) and New York City, “the number of monthly visitors allowed at the site will increase to 70 from 50” and relatives will be allowed to visit graves once a month. Additionally, the city, which actually owns the island, will offer photographs of grave sites to visiting relatives and mourners. All of this is part of a “three-month pilot program” under the agreed upon settlement.
Relatives of family members buried on Hart Island will soon enjoy “increased access to the cemetery under a modified lawsuit settlement.” Under the new settlement agreement between the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) and New York City, “the number of monthly visitors allowed at the site will increase to 70 from 50” and relatives will be allowed to visit graves once a month. Additionally, the city, which actually owns the island, will offer photographs of gravesites to visiting relatives and mourners. All of this is part of a “three-month pilot program” under the agreed upon settlement.
But what is Hart Island? Why the limitations on visitors in the first place? For those who don’t know, Hart Island is the site of the nation’s largest mass grave and is “managed by the Department of Correction.” According to The Hart Island Project, the island is made up of 101 acres of land and is situated in the Long Island Sound. Since it was purchased in 1869, it has operated at various times as a hospital, an asylum for the mentally ill, and a prison. It has also been used to bury unclaimed and unidentified New Yorkers. Graves are dug by prison labor, which is one of the reasons why much of the island has been inaccessible to the public. To date, there are an estimated one million men, women, and children buried on the island in unmarked graves.
For many across the country, news of the settlement has been long overdue. Even Christopher Dunn, “NYCLU Associate Legal Director and lead counsel on the case,” stated: “Hart Island is sacred ground for family members of the generations of people who suffered the indignity of mass burial, and this increase in graveyard visitation is one more step towards honoring the memory of people buried there.” Included in the settlement is a requirement that the city also provides visitors with ferry service to and from the island, as well as to “maintain a database of the people buried there and to allow visitors to leave mementos, including flowers and stuffed animals, at the grave sites.”
But even before the lawsuit, the Department of Corrections was already trying to increase access to the grave sites. According to the department, the “expansion furthers that goal in a manner consistent with visitor security and safety concerns.” Other organizations have also popped up to help families access burial sites of their deceased loved ones, like The Hart Island Project. Their entire mission is to “assist families and individuals with limited resources in accessing public burial records and information concerning burial procedures on Hart Island, and increases public awareness of the history of Hart Island, the Potter’s Field in New York City through engaged storytelling.”
Prior to the lawsuit and subsequent agreements and settlements, relatives of the deceased were relegated to a “small corner of the island.” It’s great to see some changes being made to finally allow family members to visit the actual graves of their loved ones. It will also be interesting to see how projects, like The Hart Island Project, play out.
Sources:
Families of New York’s Unclaimed Dead Get More Access to Graves
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