Boston--The button that Sandy Fallman wore to the Statehouse yesterday showed a photo of a small grave marker made of concrete.

Other than the number "115" emblazoned on its top, nothing gave a clue to the identity of the person buried where the marker stands today at the former Danvers State Hospital.

"Who is Number 115? We don't know," Fallman said, a Marblehead Resident and member of the Danvers State Memorial Committee, told the State Administration Committee yesterday. "The state has lost the record of who is buried here."

"The person buried here was not a number. The former patient buried here was a human being just like you and me." Fallman urged the legislative committee to endorse a bill to establish a way of keeping track of the people buried in the so-called "pauper graves" on state properties and funding the maintenance and restoration of those graves.

Others from the North Shore, including a few former patients of the now- shuttered mental hospital, wore the buttons and joined Fallman to testify at yesterday's hearing on the bill, which is sponsored by Rep. Theodore Speliotis, D-Danvers, and Sen. Fred Berry, D-Peabody.

The State Administration Committee later voted to recommend passage of the bill. The committee supported the proposal last year as well, but the bill never made it out of the Senate Ways and Means Committee in the past legislative session.

"We're disappointed it didn't move further last year," said Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, a Boston Democrat and the Senate chair of the State Administration Committee. "I hope that with the end of this calendar year, we can include this in our list of accomplishments. I think it's long overdue."

When state properties with cemeteries are sold or leased in the future, the bill would set aside one half of one percent of the proceeds for a trust to pay for the up keep of the graveyards.

Berry, the vice chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said he hopes his committee will approve the bill this time around.

"It just takes tie to get any concept that involves a new revenue stream off the ground," Berry said.

Speliotis said the bill is particularly important considering the pending sale of a portion of the sprawling 500-acre Danvers state Hospital campus. A local committee has been considering redevelopment proposals, and Speliotis said the list has been narrowed down to three possible developers. He said he expects a sale probably won't be finalized until sometime next year.

"Danvers is the next major facility that is up for sale," Speliotis said. "The pending sale is definitely incentive to move this legislation."

"If the bill is passed, it would represent a major victory for the Danvers State Memorial Committee. The group was formed three years ago to ensure the two cemeteries at Danvers State are properly restored and the 768 people buried there are recognized.

Memorial committee member Ruthie Poole said the group has identified 150 so far and is working on identifying the rest.
The group's efforts helped lead to a state-funded contract to remove vegetation from the graves and improve the landscaping there last year.

Poole said the group has since expanded its advocacy efforts to include cemeteries at other state institutions, including state hospital properties in Tewksbury, Medfield, Waltham and several other towns.

Beverly resident Mark Giles, a former patient at Danvers State and a memorial committee member, showed slides to the State Administration committee yesterday that featured photographs of the overgrowth at many of the state properties. One picture showed a cinderblock used as a grave marker. Another showed a grave marked by a rusty, metal pole.

At the end of his slide show, Giles showed a photo of a pet cemetery with more elaborate tombstones.