Senator Frederick E. Berry (D-Peabody) announced today that the Senate has passed legislation that would identify and report on the condition and location of state-owned cemeteries located at state hospitals and prisons across the state. It would also require the state to report the names and grave numbers of all persons known to be buried in the cemetery or burial ground.

"Thousands of people within these sites were victim's of society's stigma against people with mental illness by being hidden away from sight in both life and death," said Senator Berry, the chief Senate sponsor of the bill. "I believe that by memorializing these sites, we are not only giving these patients and their families the dignity and respect that they deserve, but we are also sending a strong message against the stigma associated with the mentally ill."

It is estimated that some 10,000 numbered, but otherwise unidentified graves, are scattered across the state on the overgrown grounds of long-closed mental health facilities and prisons. On the grounds of Danvers State Hospital alone, there are 768 graves marked only by small stones with numbers carved into them. Among them are veterans of the Civil, Spanish, American, and World wars. The passage of this bill would be a great first step in preserving, protecting and memorializing these gravesites.

The bill will now move to the House of Representatives for its consideration.